Colm Kavanagh captures the upbeat mood that has followed the appointment of David Moyes as our new manager
THE PRIDE OF MOYESYSIDE
Sir David Moyes
"What if?"
When it comes to football, there's no greater word than if. Many problems surrounding our beloved Blues have been solved over a pint and a question beginning with the words, "What if?"
We've seen the Board recently appoint a new manager, David Moyes — a man with no experience of managing at Premiership level. He is actually younger than Walter's favourite central defender, Richard Gough, who captained the side in recent seasons. That surely will become a trivia question in time to come!
His job? Well, basically, to replace a man with a supposed wealth of experience and a collection of pots won during a time in Scottish football when the word competition was indeed a misnomer. I stand to be corrected by those with their eye closer to Scottish football than I but is it not fair comment, albeit a little unkind, to say that during Smith's tenure at Ibrox his supposed rivals, Celtic and Aberdeen, were in disarray? Nice guy is our Walter... but a top class manager? No way, José.
He was a man who was taking his team down to Division One — a team that looked so dishevelled, a team without pace and no goals. Frighteningly, we relied on the ageing bones of Paul Gascoigne and latterly (panic acquisition of the season if you ask me) Monsieur Ginola to provide us with a glimmer of invention on the pitch.
The day Ginola departs Goodison cannot come soon enough in my book. His sell-by date came and went some years back. Everton Football Club are currently swelling his pension fund with little in return. Definitely not worth it. Lee Carsley, the type of player required to dig you out of trouble? Ask Derby County, Blackburn Rovers and Coventry City.
The whiff of prey has been prevalent in recent weeks. Sections of the media who had consistently told us that Walter Smith was performing miracles at Everton began to extract their collective heads from their collective arses and take note of what was causing so many Evertonians (you know, people who actually attend Everton games or follow the Club from afar) so much anxiety.
I genuinely believe that those who still supported Walter Smith found it hard to digest the happenings at the Riverside Stadium when we played Middlesbrough on that season-defining day. The axe had to fall, and swiftly. I genuinely believe that, if the Board had insisted on retaining the services of Walter Smith and Archibald Knox, we'd have ended this year suffering the same fate as Leicester City. Be thankful for small mercies, says I, but: What if?
Enter Mr. Moyes — cometh the hour, cometh the man? I sincerely hope so. There can be no tougher job in football than being given the chance to revive an ailing giant on the brink of expiring. Take a good look at ourselves, and the likes of Spurs, in recent times. How often have we changed manager, hoping for a better return? It's a Catch-22 scenario we find ourselves in — how can we hope for continuity and progress when we constantly change manager? There is, of course, no definitive answer to that question...
David Moyes has most certainly endeared himself to Evertonians with his tasty little jibe at our friends and rivals from across Stanley Park.
"This is the people's club in Liverpool. The people on the street support Everton and I hope to give them something they can be proud of over the next few years."
Say it again and again and again. It proves nothing of course but it has instilled a little something into us that's been sadly missing for some time (or "over a period of time" as Walter would say).
The proclamation that WE ARE THE PEOPLE'S TEAM is, ironically, so Shankly-esque. Though Moyes may have (cleverly?) sown the seed it is the fans who have seized the opportunity to sing it loud and proud. Could Walter Smith have ever uttered such words, designed to ignite a potent weapon for any team — its fans?
All of a sudden there's a spring in the step of Evertonians, a new zest. Over the past number of seasons the colour has been slowly and painfully drained from the Everton support. There's nothing to compare with acerbic scouse humour and I suppose one word will encapsulate the Walter Smith era — "disappointed".
Following, nay, watching Everton over the past two years has been a painful experience. Testimony to that is the thought of many neutrals, who have no feeling one way or the other for our Club, who have labelled us as the most boring side to watch.
Sometimes you don't like hearing the truth from other quarters. What if Walter and Archie were still in charge today? What if they had remained in charge for the visit of Fulham last week? Do you reckon we' d now have a precious six points in the bag and a smile wider than the Mersey Tunnel? Would that spring in your Evertonian step be there? Would you now be deluding yourself into thinking Everton could still qualify for the Intertoto Cup?
Just little over a week ago, this Club of ours was headed one way — down and out. With the current shenanigans on-going between the Nationwide clubs and ITV Digital, it's just as well that we've seen some new life injected into Everton Football Club.
That's exactly what David Moyes has been for Everton Football Club — a breath of fresh air and new ideas. For the players and fans alike. Why is it that you feel confident enough to seek out and wind up your Kopite mates this week, with barbs about being THE PEOPLE'S TEAM, at a time when they sit on top of the Premiership and two ties away from a Champions League Final? I'll tell you why — David Moyes. Pride restored in an instant.
The comments, coming from Moyes, about "people's team" and the like, are candy to the fans, but — as many gutted Preston North End faithful will tell you — there's more to Moyes than sound bytes aplenty! I like the fact that we have in place now, a manager on the up, instead of employing yet another face from the tired managerial merry-go-round. He has a hunger to succeed.
Since being offered the Preston job a few seasons back, he has hardly put a foot wrong. UEFA coaching badges won't necessarily win you League Championships but it is nice to know that we've now got a "hands-on" style of manager in place who knows exactly what he wants on the training ground. Sure as hell beats the shit (no pun intended!) out of a baseball bat wielding Archie Knox putting the players through their paces!
How novel it has been to see the manager out there on the pitch, pre-match, warming up with his players and working, ahem, on a one to one (sorry!) basis with the players. It would be interesting to hear the views of David Unsworth on his new manager — who is this free scoring full back we have, eh?!
Donning my Evertonian utopian woolly bobble hat for a moment, I'd dearly like to think that in the seasons ahead we'll see a young side grow alongside a young manager. I'd like to witness a prospering Everton side playing the brand of football appreciated not only by us but also by others. We've become despised over the past year or two and many would not be sorry to see us disappear down the plughole that takes clubs into Division One. That's been hard to accept.
We have struggled since the inception of the Premiership and recent history lumps us in with the Coventry City's of this world. I'm tired of seeing Everton Football Club buying journeymen professionals and hoping they come good in the Royal Blue. It rarely works. I believe Mr Moyes will seize the initiative and make the most of the tools at his disposal. As ever, thankfully, we have a healthy crop of kids coming up through the ranks It would be nice to think that in time to come they will provide us with the spine of a very good young side.
When Walter Smith was installed as manager back in the summer of 1998, our youths had just won the FA Youth Cup. Whatever the circumstances, our homegrown talent was gradually pawned off, going some way to easing our financial predicament. Out with the young and in with the old (and well paid).
Our youths are once again involved at the business end of that tournament, due to face Tottenham Hotspur in the semi final at Goodison on Wednesday, so someone somewhere at Everton is getting it right. Youth is the way forward, I believe, and let's hope we've now got a manager brave enough to encourage and nurture good young talent to play at Everton FC for many years to come, wearing that Royal Blue jersey with Pride.
Let's hear it for the Moyes - the pride of Moyseyside!
25 March 2002