David Moyes.
Right, let’s focus on the obvious negatives about the guy. Well in 11yrs at Everton Football Club he has a Trophy Haul of 0. Is yet to win a game at Anfield, Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge or The Emirates although he does have many victories at the Etihad, latest of which was when they were splashing their initial millions. Over the last few years his substitutions are a lot to be desired in the time he did them plus the player he brought on the player he took off. His tactics at times can be very poor, but at the same time can be spot on as well. You could also say a criticism is the way he continues to back the board despite them not backing him, however, there could be multiple reasons for this.
Right, so the positives. A major positive of David Moyes is the way he works in the transfer market, over his 11yr spell at Everton he has brought in some quality players for bargain prices. The stand out names being Cahill £1.5m, Arteta £2m, Pienaar £2m, Martyn £500k, Jagielka £4m, Lescott £5m and Baines £6m, let’s be honest, the list is massive. Another positive is again an obvious one, the fact that he turned Everton from relegation candidates into European Challengers with a net spend of about £1.8m over his 11yr period, impressive. And as pretty much Evertonian and Media Man has said, “Imagine what Moyes could do with money”, in my opinion he could do an awful lot! This is what annoys people, Moyes has gotten Everton to borderline Champions League Level with no money at all, so surely that’s an incentive for the Board to sell or actually invest, this isn’t an anti-board article either, just a point.
So onto why I have decided to write this article. There has been a lot of hysteria recently about Moyes leaving in the summer, some say he will, some say he won’t, others say they are not bothered, others say they are. I am simply here to give you MY take on this Moyes situation.
With regards to leaving Everton, I don’t think Moyes will, BUT, I would not blame him at all if he decided to pack his bags and call it quits with Everton, this board simply don’t match the man’s ambition as far as I’m afraid. Would I be bothered if Moyes left Everton? Well yes, yes I would, simply because of the board we have running this Club. Letting Moyes go is simply too big of a risk due to the fact he has worked under limited conditions for 11yrs. Could any other manager do this? Maybe yes, however, the question should be, do they want to? No, I don’t think so. In my opinion, we won’t get a replacement in who’s worthy to lace Moyes’ shoes to be honest, we will get someone like Megson, Coyle or even promote from within Stubbs, Ferguson etc. If we did, I’d genuinely give up with Football. 11yrs of Moyes work would vanish within the space of a week. This alone is one of the reasons why I think he would stay. He has built something here at Everton, something that is on the borders of special, would he really want to give it all up? I know I wouldn’t. Another reason is the fact that there isn’t a bigger job than EFC available right now, yes clubs may have more money than us, but most of them don’t even compare to Everton. I really don’t like mentioning Moyes wage, but you have to admit, £65k a week is a cushy job, one which all of us would accept without an ounce of thought.
Even though I mentioned those negatives above, I still love Moyes, I really do and I think A LOT of people are very harsh on the man. Yes he hasn’t won a trophy or beaten those teams at their place, but the stability and facilities the man has brought to the club is worth an awful lot, which, in my opinion deserves A LOT of respect from us fans. As I said earlier, if he does leave I wouldn’t blame him, he’d also go with my best wishes. If he doesn’t then ill remain happy, he should be guaranteed some form of decent money this summer so let’s hope he spends it wisely so we can definitely push on.
Although, if you do decide to leave this summer, David, then please leave a trophy winner. Our best chance at winning the FA Cup, let’s just win it yeah.
If David does leave this summer, who do YOU want to replace him? My shout is Michael Laudrup, would cost a BOMB, but it’s the least us fans deserve, a decent manager.
You Have missed a trick here….what about the fact he has treated the fans,club and players with utter contempt?
He has left everybody in limbo.
either say i am signing or i am leaving NOT i am will look at it in the summer!
How uneasy does that make the players feel, if he leaves the next manager might not fancy that player(hopefully Neville and hietinga) or is seen as a squad player because they change the system.
The club do they start looking for a manager or will moyes see that as going behind his back?
The fans well f&*@ what the fans think they just pay my wages.
Another thing what about the youth players that don’t even get a look in because Moyes will only play the players he likes even out of postion?
Transfers what the rubbish signings he has made? Beattie , Koldrup , Bily(played out of postion)Hietinga, MCfadden?
not all of his transfers have been great and you forget about the scouting network he doesn’t find these players good and bad the network does Moyes makes the decision to sign them (often dithers to)
A bit hares in my opinion – I still remember Wimbledon 2 up on the last day and we were sat in relegation – old has been players on large salaries. Since Moyes has come to Everton he has reshaped the club, now we look up the table (and not that far up) we are competitive in all competitions we take part in and we are feared by all. Yes we have not won anything but unless you’re a Liverpool fan, I assume you don’t think it’s our god given right to win all the time. Yes there’s no money available but compare this team to that before David Moyes and I bet you couldn’t sell players for 20 / 25 million – now we have a couple who could fetch that. Yes Moyes has had to learn his trade and can still be frustrating with substitutions and tactics but every manager has his weaker areas. What we have gained is PRIDE – RESPECT, Everton is the envy of many managers and fans.
This is what Moyes brings to the table and next year when he signs he will be given a good portion of the TV money – he will sell Fellani and Baines and he WILL find better for less.
Too often he is criticised and yet he has built this respect in the club no other manager would do this – Mourinio / Benitez – just self-glory boys. Moyes deserve your respect and your support he won’t let you down, he needs your support more than ever and he will get the trophies over the next 5 years by the sack full, just wait and see, so don’t place any seeds of doubt in his mind – he is only a man and sometimes needs a lift like the rest of us. He has given me a lift over the last 10 years so long may it last.
I am most definately a Moye’s fan. Not sure of the board. Mr Moyes is also not looking to happy at present either, the reasons we can only speculate.
My biggest concern isthat here we are again only a month away from buying our season tickets once again. Fans again splashing the cash to support theteam they love out of their hard earned wages.
Yet again know sign of the board matching this. Moyes is in control of thesituation regarding football matters, he is the most important part of the puzzlethat has got us this far, yet we are left hanging again.
of course we will buy and support, but it is about time the money men and the club supported usand treated everyone to a transparent policy for the passing of information
moyes will not drop certain players no matter how badly they are playing, he has absolutely no problem in taking off those he thinks are not giving 100% but not osman, osman has not played well in the last 5 games and disappears far too often when the going gets tough, he’s missed some fantastic chances to score and fluffed it up by his weak attempts to hit the ball hard or his attempt to bend the ball, i would like to know what he brings to the team in my opinion he’s too small, too weak, unable to jump more than 4 inches off the ground, cannot take a free kick or corner, cannot tackle and easily disposed of the ball, everton desperatley need a midfield general who take take control of the game, at present we have no one with the ability to motivate the team, we need another carsley or graveson who appeared to rule the midfield instead we have osman who can’t motovate himself never mind the team
Very well written piece and basically the majority of this is what I feel. Seeing the amounts he has paid for the likes of cahill etc all together in one article makes you realise exactly what he has done with so little money.
Cheers for putting this up lids!
And cheers for the comments 🙂 Upon reading it again and the comments i can definitely see I’ve missed out a bit, especially the favourites point!
With reagrds to the first comment, im definitely not unhappy with Moyes for holding his current stance, if i was i would have definitely put it in, but its all about opinions here 🙂
Again, cheers for the comments, lids.
You have some good points both pro & con… his wages really stop other teams from talking to him, he is not a bargain, so what has he been holding out for? Is there something in the air behind the doors at board? Is it all about a big change on the field this summer. (here’s hoping)
I can look past his failures and shortcomings as a manager if there are signs of improvement in those areas, if a player under Moyes made the same errors over and over again (like Moyes inability to win at Anfield in 11 years) Moyes would coach him during practice, if it continued-bench him, if it still continued-sell him & move on and it would not take 11 years to figure this out 🙁
IMO Moyes has done well for the club and he needs to think about getting serious help to improve in those areas he has stumble on if he decides to stay by hiring an assistant manager as an offensive co-ordinator to work with his attacking game.
And it is time to start playing the youth before their contracts run and they walk… They are part of the future and Moyes needs get them in.
Good article pal. I agree with your points, and most of those made in the comments. I also believe he will sign another contract.
If the worse happened an he was to leave, then I would also like the board to go for Laudrup. He has the playing experience, name and (seemingly at present) tactics which would fit in well at Goodison with our squad. He would also attract more big players, IF money was there to spend.
The biggest question in all of this seems to be the board. As Jeff questions above – is there something amiss in the board at present, politics, power struggle? I was surprised there was no internal investment (not from BK – from the directors with £100 million +), considering the potential return they could get if we were to get a CL spot, and the raised profile to sell.
I haven’t really questioned them before as there are seemingly very few suitable investors with the interest in football and, more importantly, capital we need (£500-700million + IMO)to push on and sustain a challenge for consistent CL finishes and top honours. Football clubs are like black holes of investment, very few, if any, make a decent return.