David Moyes - Only time will tell

David Moyes Starts Role As Manchester United Manager

David Moyes’s first day at Manchester United

When David Moyes replaced Walter Smith at Everton on 14th March, 2002, he won the fan’s hearts at his first ever Press conference declaring Everton as “The People’s Club” on Merseyside.

He said: “I am from a city (Glasgow) that is not unlike Liverpool. I am joining the people’s football club. The majority of people you meet on the street are Everton fans. It is a fantastic opportunity, something you dream about. I said ‘yes’ right away as it is such a big club.”

Everton Chairman Bill Kenwright was so convinced about his ability that he contacted Moyes and invited him to his home in London to discuss the available position at Everton. Moyes was reluctant at first but later agreed to meet him in London where he met Kenwright for an hour.

Prior to his appointment, Everton were under threat of being relegated but they managed to sustain a decent run of form to avoid it. David Moyes began his first full season as Everton head coach with a host of changes at the club which resulted in a satisfactory 7th place finish after being edged out of UEFA Cup qualification by Blackburn Rovers. Moyes was awarded LMA Manager of the Year for the first time, to go with the Manager of the Month award for November 2002, when the Toffees had been in the Champions League places.

However, Everton couldn’t sustain that run of form in the following season by finishing 17th with 39 pts, lowest in the club’s history just avoiding relegation. A confrontation between Moyes and Duncan Ferguson at Everton’s training ground was said to be symptomatic of the problems at the club that season.

Despite the turmoil at the club, Moyes managed to bring in Tim Cahill, who is considered as his best signing scoring 15 goals in his debut season for the Toffees. That form enabled Everton to surpass all expectations and finish 4th in the league and qualify for the Champions League for the following season.

Despite that sudden rise in form, Everton finished the 2005-06 season on a lowly 11th after spending much of the season battling relegation. Everton finished in a much better position in 2006-07 as they claimed 6th in the league.

It was the 2007–08 season that Everton displayed the most consistency and stability since Moyes arrived at the club, finally ending the cycle of alternating between the top and bottom halves of the league. A 5th place finish in the league, Last 16 of the UEFA Cup and semis of the English League Cup were achieved.

Sunderland v Everton - Premier League

David Moyes at Everton

Moyes finally found some consistency as Everton reached the finals of the FA Cup in 2008-09 although they were beaten by Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley.

Everton ended 2009-10 in 8th place, failing to qualify for Europe for the 1st time in 4 years despite a run of only two defeats in their last 24 league games.

David Moyes became a cult legend at Everton for stabilizing them during torrid times and leading them to a team which fought for European places after 4 seasons of inconsistent showings. His ability in the transfer market is also much lauded after discovering gems like Baines, Fellaini, Cahill, Arteta, Lescott to name a few.

And when the news that Sir Alex Ferguson would retire at the end of the 2012-13 season, all eyes were on Moyes and Mourinho to see who would replace the Scotsman at Manchester United. And finally it was announced that Moyes would take the reigns at Manchester United on July 1st, 2013.

Moyes clearly is a top manager to have at a club seeking stability but it remains to be seen whether Manchester United fans are willing to give him sufficient time to find his feet at such a mammoth club.

He replaces Sir Alex Ferguson with a win% of 42.08 from 518 games at Goodison Park trying to better Fergie’s 59.67% and with time and patience it would be pretty obvious that he’ll succeed to build on a dynasty made by a fellow Scotsman like himself. Ferguson himself has praised his successor as he “feels he is cut from the same cloth” as him.

Given his inconsistent start at Everton, it is obvious that he could experience the same at a club like Manchester United given his team’s start to the season is tough. It is however upto the fans to stick with him or call for his head when things don’t seem to be going according to plan as it is clearly evident he is a top manager.

David Moyes begins his first official day as manager of Manchester United by arriving at the club’s Carrington training ground and appointing Steve Round (Assistant Manager), Chris Woods (Goalkeeping Coach) and Jimmy Lumsden (First Team Coach) to his coaching staff.

Liverpool have stuck with Brendan Rodgers and Arsenal with Arsene Wenger. Lets see if Manchester United can stick with their man through the good times or not?

Quick Links

Edited by Staff Editor