The Fiver | A decent attempt to turn base failure into glittering achievement

In today’s Fiver: Bobby M, channelling your inner Steve Backley, and dark forces

Bobby M has attracted quite a bit of criticism lately, and no wonder. His Everton team’s home record makes Paul Jewell’s Derby County look like late-80s-era Steaua Bucharest. His success rate in big games makes David Moyes look like the second coming of Lord Ferg. And the trademark intensity of his fitness regime makes Ross Barkley, previously one of English football’s brightest prospects, play like a better-defined, hunkier version of Mr Creosote. Albeit with less explosive pace.

Related: Everton’s Roberto Martínez: judge me over three seasons, not three months

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