Fans Comment
Patrick Marks

Get a grip!!
28 December 2005

David Moyes: One of the Best

I cannot believe the level of criticism David Moyes is getting from our own fans. I'm shocked at how quickly so many blues are calling for Moyes's head. Sorry, Nick Armitage, but you should be ashamed of your most recent column.

Now, I want to make it clear that I’m not defending Moyes because I’m 'trying to be a good fan', I honestly believe he's a fantastic manager — one of the best we've ever had. If we were to sack Moyes, do you honestly believe it will end his career as a top-flight manager? Of course not! One of Britain's biggest clubs will snap him up in no time and he will almost certainly achieve great things elsewhere — he is that good.

Have you considered who we would appoint if Moyes were to go? The Premiership is littered with manager's who are at best capable of achieving mediocrity. I can't think of anyone in the lower leagues that could manage a club the size of Everton.

Moyes has been compared to Alex Ferguson in the past and it's easy to see why: a fantastic work ethic, mentally strong, well organised, disciplined and — most importantly — a burning desire to win, to succeed. We saw this last year, there's no reason why we won't see it again. Does anybody remember how inconsistent Man Utd were in Ferguson's first five years?

Moyes understands that long-term success is built on solid, long-term foundations. As well as attempting to change the way Everton play ON the field he is also trying to change just about everything OFF the field too. This as we know is because shits like Walter Smith and many people before him completely ruined the principles and foundations of our football club. As soon as Moyes get's it right off the field we will become a much better and more consistent football team on it.

Something else some people seem to forget is that when Moyes took over at Everton we had one good player at the club - Gravesen. Everyone else was either mediocre or shit. Linderoth, Nyarko, Pistone, Naysmith, Stubbs, Li Tie, Kevin Campbell — the list was endless.

Moyes has had to completely change the squad; he's been forced into buying more players than he would have liked because our squad was so bad. Bringing in seven players in one summer is bound to affect the team spirit but Moyes has had no choice. You can only take a group of limited players so far; there comes a time when they have to go.

When Moyes is happy with the overall squad and doesn't feel the need to change it too much, we WILL be competing with the top teams on a regular basis.

Moyes has shown glimpses of his managerial brilliance so far; with a bit more time off the field and some quality attacking players on it, a few Evertonians might just be eating their festive words.

Patrick Marks

Well, after just finishing reading the fallout of what can only be described as a depressingly predictable derby result, I felt compelled to try conjure up a riposte to Patrick Marks's article "Get a grip!".

The author "cannot believe the level of criticism directed at Moyes"... Why is that? Have you been watching your glory year’s videos and mistaking it for today’s game? We have scored 10 goals in 19 games and have only Sunderland’s journeymen with a worse goal difference in the whole league. Pat on the back, Davey; keep up the good work. This time last year it would have been understandable... but now? Get a grip!

The article, for all its loyal valour, contains vast oversights of Everton’s current situation. First and foremost, Patrick's blind and steadfast defence of Moyes at this point in time, although commendable, borders on the insane. You cannot "think of anyone in the lower leagues who can manage a club the size of Everton?" Why? What’s so big and great about our current standing?

? Glorious past — of that there is no question — 'past' being the operative word. Sorry, but the last time I looked, Everton, sadly, fall into the category of a once big, now typical Premiership club. That is, one that struggles as badly off the pitch as they do on it with survival the key every year. Not exactly part of the big 6 anymore...

So, when we ridded our club of the Smith plague, Moyes stood out from the lower leagues like a beacon to you? I doubt it.

Granted, there is a paucity of managers around who we could earmark as potential Everton managers — due to the attractiveness of our plight, more than anything — but that’s the reason we have a Board of Directors who are supposedly 24 hours a day looking after the interests of our beloved Everton (no laughing) whilst getting paid a tidy some for their troubles!

Anyhow, how one can categorise “Moyes as a brilliant young manager” at this point in time is beyond me. At the end of May, you would have been stating the obvious sentiments of all Blues; but, after 7 months of mistake upon mistake, one cannot still see the brilliance of him so keenly.

1. The inability to purchase a striker of any note during the summer is proving an error of gargantuan proportions.
   
   
2. Believing that 4-5-1 would work precisely as it did last year was ludicrous when we look back on our latter season form.

I am for the most part not anti-Moyes but he is looking a bit lost at present. Tim Cahill needs a rest. He is jaded. Weir needs a P45; thanks for the service but you're finished. Marcus “goal a game” Bent needs to be shipped out ASAP.

We’ve bought potentially well “if” everyone was fit — and the squad has suffered badly from injuries - you cannot legislate for Valente’s injury, Carsley’s dodgy knee or Cahill’s quest to play 150 games a year. But you can make sure the players you're bringing in are raring to go. We have not, and the responsibility falls to Moyes.

I wrote in previously, elated at our “qualifying” for the Champions League and urged the Board to back Moyes to the hilt. They have, in most respects, but we find ourselves in a relegation dogfight. Now the responsibility for bad results lies somewhere — whether it be players ability, motivation or tactics they play under. Ultimately it all comes back to the manager.

“Moyes has shown glimpses of his Managerial brilliance”…Intriguing comment. Is it with the unwillingness to change the formation, or only make substitutions when the game is gone? He’s shown ineptness more than brilliance on the whole and the fact some players were playing for their careers last year aided his one-dimensional motivational policy.

I agree that Moyes took over a rabble of journeymen and prima donnas when he joined us. We have undoubtedly improved the quality of footballer in our squad under Moyes's tenure. That is not up for question. What is under increasing question for blues fans everywhere is whether Moyes is capable of utilising it. At the moment I have my doubts.
Paul Bassett, Melbourne, Australia (29/12/05)

Okay, Points of Order: Blue Bill works 24+ hrs a day, etc blah, blah. But no-one nowhere has ever claimed that the Board of Directors is providing 24-hour oversight of the good ship Goodison, so let's knock that little myth right on the head.  At best, they probably meet once every three months or something like that. And they are almost certainly not discussing anything that appears in this mailbag.

And I believe they have denied on more than one occasion "getting paid a tidy some for their troubles!" The Directors of Everton Football Club Co Ltd do NOT get paid for being Directors.  Next you'll be telling us they have personally funded the transfer kitty... — The Editor

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