Wednesday 2 December 2015 11:12, UK
Everton go into the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup preparing to face Championship opposition and without European competition to distract them. They are only fourth-favourites to lift the trophy with the bookmakers but isn't it about time that the Toffees came out on top?
Andy Hinchcliffe certainly thinks so. The Sky Sports pundit was part of Everton's FA Cup winning side of 1995. More than 20 years on from beating Manchester United at Wembley and subsequently winning that year's Charity Shield, the wait for more silverware goes on…
"For the Everton fans," says Hinchcliffe, "it's about time, isn't it? Other clubs have got bigger and bigger while Everton have kept to their traditional ways. I love that. I love going back to Goodison Park. The fans have never changed and I think it's brilliant.
"They're an incredible bunch in terms of the way they want football played. They're so patient and they really deserve some silverware. A trip to Wembley would be fantastic for them. Most fans say they want success but teams like Everton know that it's very difficult these days.
"Even the big teams are taking these cups more seriously than they used to. That's true of Everton too. I've seen them play a couple of times in the cup this season and the teams they are putting out are clearly designed to win the competition.
"That really has to be the way to look at it because they're clearly not going to win the Premier League. They might get into Europe but the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup are the competitions that they should go hell for leather for because it's a chance to actually win something."
That's how the team approached it in 1995. But back then ambitions at the top end of the Premier League were far from the players' thoughts. They were battling away near the bottom when Joe Royle replaced Mike Walker. It was a far cry from the success of the 1980s.
"When Joe came in we were really struggling," says Hinchcliffe. "Everton is such a big club and it was difficult to live up to that 1980s team. Winning that trophy in 1995 was a form of payback for the Everton fans for being patient in the interim period after those glory days.
"They had been so successful under Howard Kendall. Peter Reid, Paul Bracewell, Kevin Sheedy, Kevin Ratcliffe and the rest. They had such a fantastic team and that's why they were so successful but we were already in transition by the time I came to the club.
"It was about players like Pat Nevin, Stuart McCall and Peter Beagrie. Things were changing and I was part of that. Then when Joe Royle and Willie Donaghy came in, it changed again and they were an amazing managerial team who worked wonders with players individually and collectively.
"We wanted to win it because of the sort of club that Joe had built. We liked each other and we worked hard for each other. We weren't a team of superstars playing for ourselves. We were very much the Everton fans' team and I think a lot of the guys would say the same thing.
"We had a great squad of players. We had guys like Joe Parkinson and Neville Southall who were proper players and I think that's why we were successful. I think that the fans could connect with those players. They were heart and soul footballers.
"You just have to look back at all of the characters. Guys like Gary Ablett who has now sadly passed on, gave you absolutely everything. Dave Unsworth, Matt Jackson, Graham Stuart, Paul Rideout, Daniel Amokachi, Duncan Ferguson. It was an unbelievable blend."
Hinchcliffe's memories of that day are fresh. "It seems like yesterday but it's such a long time ago," he says. "I remember the party and the celebrations in the aftermath. It was wonderful to give [the supporters] that day and I think they appreciated that the team they had was definitely playing for them.
"It was surreal because me and Matt Jackson were rooming together and even the night before we were talking about how many times we'd watched the FA Cup final on TV. It was bizarre to be part of the history of that.
"We had to keep reminding ourselves that this was real and it was us who'd be doing it. We didn't really see the bigger picture of what was going on around us. It just felt like a natural thing to happen because everybody was playing well together.
"We'd already been fighting for our lives before we got to Wembley. Even though you don't want to be battling relegation, it kind of hardens you. We knew how tough we had to be. We'd got that under our belt. If you're going to win a cup you need that resilience.
"The game itself was a bit of a strange one because I had an injury. I'd had an injection in my Achilles to get me through the game and I didn't really have to do anything. It was one of those games that just passes you by. But all that mattered was winning."
It's difficult to imagine Martinez coming out with a sentence like that but he will be acutely aware of the hopes and desires of the Everton fans. "I think you have to remember how much it matters to the Everton supporters because they really are as good as you'll find anywhere," adds Hinchcliffe.
"If they can get past Middlesbrough, you never know. They'd be in a fantastic position to win it and give the fans something to cheer about. With Howard Kendall's passing it would be poignant really. It would be a fitting testament to his legacy if they should mark it by winning a trophy."
Everton's league position in that 1994/95 season? Fifteenth. "People don't think about league positions when you win a cup," concludes Hinchcliffe.
Perhaps that's the line Martinez and his players should remember when they take to the turf on Tuesday night.
