Everton manager Sam Allardyce has admitted that he would have liked to have had more support from the club's board.
Allardyce has steered the Toffees away from the relegation zone and into the top half of the Premier League table during his tenure, but the supporters have grown increasingly frustrated with the team's playing style.
Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Southampton - which saw Everton nick a point at the death - was greeted with boos by the home fans, and Allardyce admitted that the board's lack of support has only served to fuel the speculation over his future.
"It would have helped yes, but I can't control the board, I can't control what they say. They are my bosses, so I can't be dictating and telling them what they should or should not do obviously, but that has fuelled more speculation. I think results speak for themselves personally. You know, at the end of the day it is where it is," he told reporters.
"Sometimes it feels rather sad, and certainly the players feel rather sad, that they don't seem to be getting any credit for what they are doing. If you sit in the dressing room it feels like 'we've won, but it's another crap performance.' Everybody says it is a crap performance, and every is saying we are not doing this or that, when as a matter of fact they are doing it better than everybody else below them.
"It's the players who go on the field and perform and you try to get the most out of them you can. I think we've done our best to get the most out of them we can and results have proven that. If you look at where they were and look at the results and look at performances before I came and you see the improvement and the consistency, and the level of performance we have done since, then it's been an improvement on a consistent basis.
"You can be disappointed in one game, but you look at the overall scenario and overall success we've gained, then you know, it means we've gone in the right direction. And we will all try to build and get better."
Everton can finish no higher than their current position of eighth, and no lower than ninth.
