Feeling Blue
Paul Trail offers some constructive criticism of David Moyes and then looks forward to the task ahead

29 April 2004

Lying in my bed at about 3:23 last Saturday, listening to the scores coming in on Five Live, wishing I was at Goodison Park...  Distance and costs restricts me to the amount of games I get to go these days, and I gave up my season ticket when I left Merseyside.  As it turns out, I fork out more money anyway by paying for each ticket separately but still…

The commentary moves to Goodison briefly were that knobhead John Hall barks “Gravesen off injured, Nyarko his replacement”.  Well that’s creative isn’t it!  Linderoth and Nyarko in the middle.  Why not go 4-3-3, or pull Rooney into the hole and put McFadden on, or move Kilbane into the middle and McFadden wide left?  Either way, it didn’t sound like the right change, and Moyes has now baffled me a few times this season.

I like Moyes and I don’t want to harp on too much about his failings just now, but some of his decisions have been about as bad as his predecessor as far as I’m concerned:

• People say Walter never gave the kids a chance. 

Well, Peter Clarke got over 10 games under Smith, Kevin McLeod got a chance, Phil Jevons got a chance, Michael Branch got a chance, Danny Cadamarteri got a chance, Jamie Milligan got a chance, Tony Hibbert got a chance, Richard Dunne got a chance, and of course he bought Francis Jeffers through and got around £8M for him.  Seems good business now does it not? 

How many of the kids has Moyes played since he came in?  Of course, he’s handled Rooney impeccably; hats off to him for that.  Nick Chadwick got a chance to some extent and even with a goal ratio of: 4 games started, 4 goals scored, is behind Kevin Campbell and Francis Jeffers in the queue — despite those two starting 13 games this season without a Premiership goal between them.  What more does he have to do to get a chance?

Tony Hibbert seems to be finishing the season the way he started it: axed.  Peter Clarke has been given the odd chance, Kevin McLeod got 1 minute in the Shrewsbury Town debacle last season, and that was it.  And don’t get me started on Leon Osman!

• We’ve been crying out all season for a player in the middle of the park.

Linderoth, Carsley and Nyarko have all tried and, generally speaking, failed to fill that void.  How must this effect the confidence of established international players such as Scot Gemmill and Niclas Alexandersson who’ve gone all season without as much as a sniff?  Yes, yes, these two players are not the answer for Everton Football Club, but would it have hurt to give either of these a chance?

I always though Gemmill was alright anyway.  Not a world beater by any means but a steady reliable player who could at least pass a ball, not bad to bring on when Gravesen’s having another one of “them days”.  While Alexandersson, well Watson was injured for a while so why not try Niclas for one or two games while McFadden was struggling, instead of pulling Rooney out of position.  I just fail to see how this is good for both personal and squad moral amongst the players.  Particularly when Alex Nyarko can wander back from his two-year holiday and pretty much slip right back into the fold. 

• Duncan Ferguson has had a good season

When Ferguson has played, we’ve generally scored more goals and won more games, I think.  I was at Leicester when he got sent off and he was stupid there and he knows it.  On the other hand, if players deliberately try to get you sent off, they deserve to be strangled.  I’m sure the FA didn’t think twice about issuing him the four-match ban he deserved, but were generous to Everton in saying they could have the ban served either now, in a few games time, at the end of this season and the start of the next, or just at the start of the next. Would it not have made more sense to have the suspension served at the end of this season and the start of the next?

They said it made more sense to serve it then as Duncan was injured.  I’m not convinced.  He developed a “groin strain” the day before we were due to play Middlesbrough and has now been suspended for four games and now he’s not sharp enough, apparently, and like already stated on ToffeeWeb news snippet – what exactly are reserve games for?  At the end of the day, 8 goals in 16 starts is a good ratio for any striker and that’s better than anyone else’s contribution this season.  Get him back in the team and make use of what were paying him for — for the love of God he’s on enough.

Now I’m not going to start blaming everything on Moyes because it’s not all his fault.  He’s handling everything well and with a lot of dignity.  He knows he’s not infallible himself and he’s got some job on his hands.  The Board are much more to blame.  There appears to be no money available to him (sound familiar?) but if you look at that squad now, nearly all of them are out of contract by the end of next season.  He’s going to have to sign carefully because that whole squad is about to change.

• Martyn, Stubbs, Weir, Campbell and Ferguson are all now old and probably won’t be offered new contracts.  Almost certainly for Campbell and Ferguson.
   
• Simonsen, Gemmill, Chadwick, Clarke and Paul Gerrard are all off this summer.  That is certain.
   
• Watson, Pistone, Unsworth, Radzinski, Carsley and Gravesen are all in that 27 to 31 bracket and if they get new contracts, they’ll be their last.
   
• While the rest: Wright, Tie, Kilbane, Naysmith, Rooney, Yobo, Linderoth, Turner, Osman, McFadden, Hibbert and perhaps Pascucci pretty much represent “the future” as it stands for Everton with all being young and generally speaking of a good standard (with one or two exceptions).

Basically, whatever way you look at it, that’s one very small squad.  With the amount of players soon to be out of contracts, we are not going to get much money for any players we do sell on.  And, with the Board not giving Moyes anything to play with, I can’t help but worry about the club over the next two seasons.  Moyes is going to have to sign carefully and sign well.  What happens if he puts all his eggs in one basket on a player, signs him for about £5M and then he’s shit?

I don’t envy Moyes, I sympathise with him; and no I don’t want my Walter back, and I’d like to look at this as constructive criticism.  He doesn’t deserve the backlash that’ll inevitably come his way if things do go wrong; I just hope he’s correct when he says he thinks were still moving in the “right direction”.

Buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Paul Traill

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