Fans Comment
Seb Gordon

He Ain't No David Brent!
21/04/05

Man For All Season:  David Moyes

After the West Brom result I wrote a piece for the Fans Comment section in which I said that we didn’t have a cat in hell’s chance of finishing fourth, that we couldn’t score for toffee and that we were leaking goals like the proverbial sieve.  We all know what’s happened since then. I was very wrong and I am so, so pleased.

I have no problem being proved wrong, especially when it leaves me jumping for joy and punching the air whilst watching Match of the Day, despite knowing the result.  However, in pondering why I was so wrong, I’m left with two words: David Moyes.

The man is a genius and deserves every accolade that is bestowed upon him (surely Manager of the Season, Mourinho and his millions can piss off), whether we ultimately finish fourth or not.  Not only did he achieve amazing things in the first half of this season, but to turn around a team, mid-season, who were seemingly going backwards only a few weeks ago, is nothing short of a miracle.

I believe Moyes’s real skill lies not in his ability to admit to his own mistakes and adjust accordingly, nor in his expansive tactical knowledge, but in his man-management.  How has a team of average players performed to such a high standard for such an extended period of time? How has a team of average players turned around a terrible run of form, loss of confidence etc, with two such exceptional results?  The answer lies in Moyes’s ability to install a determination and belief in winning, not only in his playing staff, but in the club as a whole.

The image I remember most from last night is David Moyes shouting back at Alex Funguson, taking none of his crap.  Could you imagine Walter Smith doing that as Everton manager?  I say as much purely to illustrate David Moyes’s belief that Everton Football Club has a right, not only to be on the same pitch as the likes of ‘God’s own’ Manchester United, but to be beating them.  This belief has spread through the whole club and seemed evident amongst the Goodison faithful (what a tabloid expression) last night.  It is solely this supreme belief in winning, in our right to win and our ability to win, that has turned our football club around and resulted in the most (happily) memorable season for Everton fans in nearly two decades.  And whatever happens in the next five games, for that we thank David Moyes.

Seb Gordon

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