Waxing Shakespearian in his adulation, Colm Kavanagh can find nothing negative to say about David Moyes
Is Now The Winter Of Our Content?
Serious Intentions
Would some kind soul please pinch me and tell me I'm dreaming?
Just what is happening at Goodison Park? Five consecutive Premiership wins planting us right slap bang in the middle of the race for Champions League places — who'd have dreamt of that pre-season then? Not that we're bitter, like, but we've enjoyed this past week (another game, another win, another clean sheet) when some team from Switzerland (BOOM BOOM) walloped our nearest and dearest from across the park before teasing them with a second half capitulation. Almost poetic that.
Oh - and that seven-point lead briefly enjoyed by our Red chums at the top of the League has now evaporated and, lo and behold, they now lie one point behind the reigning (and likely to continue) champions, Arsenal — and we have them firmly in our sights ourselves.
Many will say we've hit the rewind button and transported ourselves back to a mid-80s timewarp when life was good being an Evertonian. Though it's nice to reminisce about great teams and times from the past, I think the present-day resurgence should in no way be compared to the past. It has been a collective failing of us all before: the first sign of something good happening and we're looking to the next Howard Kendall or the next Graeme Sharp. Step forward Danny Cadamarteri and Michael Branch as examples! History has so often kicked us where it hurts when we've dared to compare the present with the past...
I'll contradict myself already (sorry, can't help it!) as we all clutch at straws, searching for parallels between this present side and the side led from nowhere to the top of the pile, under Howard Kendall back in the early to mid 80s. Then, we had a fairly unglamorous look about our team, and to many observers, the same applies today. What David Moyes has done with his squad in the short space of time he's been at Everton has been outstanding — polishing turds as some have labelled it, though I think that's a little harsh on the playing staff we have at Everton.
We were tipped by many to struggle this season (still time I suppose!) and, when you consider how often in recent seasons we've skirted with danger, it was only inevitable that many would fancy us to struggle. However, and most definitely not before time, the Board of Directors at Everton had finally decided to act as they should've done a season before — they got shut of a manager who'd lost it. In my book, that's the best £2.2million spent this past year!
If Walter Smith were still manager at Everton, we'd be bogged down discussing financial matters and the dodging of yet another battle to survive in the Premiership. I really believe that. Since the passing of those grey clouds which hung over Goodison for at least two seasons, we've opened up to a whole new World of Moyes! The beauty of this current upturn in fortunes is that the team is once again playing a brand of football attractive to Evertonians and neutrals alike. We're playing with a smile on the face. The team is exactly that — a team; and the fans have been superb, particularly on their travels. Both in numbers and voice.
What financial struggle?!
Fans are talking more and more about footy — and footy alone! Things are happening ON the pitch, which keeps our minds away from the sickly looking balance sheet of Everton Football Club. How has this reversal of fortune occurred with literally the same group of players Walter Smith had at his disposal? Do we put all of our eggs in one basket and credit David Moyes — a man with an apparent Midas touch at the moment? Of course not; that would be to do his players and coaching staff a great disservice.
I think, in time to come, respect for Alan Irvine will grow amongst the rank and file Everton support. He's doing a superb job. Hopefully Santa will bring him a baseball bat in order to whip the squad back out of shape and onto the treatment table like his predecessor! A bit harsh on Archie Knox, that? Do I care?! A friend once told me, a few seasons back, that Alan Irvine would make a name for himself coaching — he knew him through working closely with him via Newcastle United's scouting/coaching system in Ireland and spoke highly of his methods. Needless to say, he's been pretty smug of late watching our rise to the higher echelons of the Premiership!
Because we've been simply awful for so long, we're allowing our emotions to run riot at the moment. Admit it, you've been smiling constantly for the past month now, stared almost lovingly at the higher reaches of a league table and, in general, found yourself floating on Cloud Nine!
What is the magic formula being used by David Moyes then? Possessing the requisite UEFA coaching badges is fine and dandy but if you don't know how to maximise the best of what you've got then, ultimately you'll get nowhere. I've been most impressed with the manager's work ethics. We look much fitter this season and (without naming names!) we've visibly one or two players looking a lot leaner this term!
The manager has a lovely turn of phrase also as the media, and Evertonians, hang onto his every word. He possesses an uncanny knack of saying just the right thing at the right time and he is bang on the money in supporting the current feeling amongst the fans into genuinely believing better things are ahead. Was this guy cut from the same mould that produced Bill Shankly perhaps? How galling would that be for our neighbours if Moyes were to replicate the achievements of Shankly?!
Why knock back the fans that are currently 100% behind team and manager? I think if the season was to end tomorrow and we found ourselves finishing in eighth place, we'd be relatively happy considering recent seasons. I don't think that expectations amongst the fan base have yet shot through the roof — hopefully a problem in the coming seasons though! I think most of us are realistic enough to accept that, arguably, we are perhaps over-achieving with the squad we have.
The current run of results that sees us being the league's form team has been brilliant but one or two injuries in key areas and we might just have that smiled wiped off our faces. However, when you hear David Moyes talk, you cannot fail to believe that anything is possible. As things stand right now, you'd not bet against David Moyes achieving what he has set out to achieve — being a very focussed manager responsible for awakening a dormant sleeping giant of English football.
We're living in a Winter of Content hoping to see a bright spring season around the corner. 'Tis good to have Evertonian blood coursing through the veins at the moment!!!
Colm Kavanagh 18 November 2002