The Rob Fox Column
Columnist: Rob Fox

He’s got red hair; he’s a kopite in disguise
23 September 2005

So, here we are again in the build up to a relegation six-pointer with just 5 games of the season gone.  To be fair, I think that’s a bit harsh.  So far there’s no real evidence to suggest that Wigan are necessarily going to join us in a relegation battle...  I suppose most people reading this aren’t in much of a mood for flippant titles and comments — or maybe you think I mean it.

To be honest, I’m not feeling that suicidal at the moment, but then it is only Friday and we haven’t lost for all of 4 days...  Maybe we’ll even win on Saturday and we can all say ‘Our season starts here’.  Then again we might lose, and the fear will start to grip my stomach again.

Yes, we are shite at the moment, but watching us being shite is all part and parcel of being Evertonian.  Relegation has never really left our subconscious thoughts and now a bad start has brought all the old fears back to the surface.  Personally, I don’t think for one second we will be relegated and I do still have faith in Moyes to get it right in the long run.  Crisis?  Maybe, maybe not.  Time to panic?  Not by a long shot.

David Moyes, hero to zero in 45 minutes.  I’m sure I wasn’t the only Blue agreeing with the studio summarisers at half time in Bucharest – Trevor Steven even got the player’s names right – that we were on course for a good result and that our tactics were successfully stifling their quick interplay around the box.

Less than an hour later I was sat in shock hating David Moyes, Alan Irvine and everybody else associated with Everton Football Club.  Somebody had to be blamed for our humiliation and the effective end of our European tour before it had really began.  Then I got a grip and realised I didn’t have a clue what had happened, partly because I never expected it and partly because the cameramen were as good at keeping up with play as Pierlugi Collina.

Since then we have lost again, to Arsenal, but it was only 2-0; it was 7-0 last time so that’s a big improvement.  Many Blues have since used Moyes and the players’ fairly positive response to this result as proof of our lack of ambition.  The truth is we are in a slump that needs to be arrested and at least we showed some desire to avoid a heavy defeat and we tried, albeit it not too successfully, to pass the ball rather than just lump it forward all the time.  It may not be much, but we have to start somewhere to rebuild confidence and Moyes is in a better position than us to judge whether it is down to new-contract-can’t-be-arsed syndrome or a combination of tiredness and lack of confidence and as such how to best motivate the players at present.

It is hard to put a finger on exactly why we are struggling so badly at present and obviously David Moyes is going to come under scrutiny.  It could be argued that buying 10 strikers wouldn’t have changed the result in Bucharest but I think our lack of attacking potency was a huge factor in the result.  Early on, we were well on top but failed to make that superiority count.

They gained in confidence and realised that, if they could get the ball forward, their attackers could cause us problems.  Their coach had done his homework and knew we lacked a goal threat and was able to convince his players that they could afford to throw players forward without being too fearful of what we would do on the counter attack.  His tactics paid off and Moyes felt the full force of many fans’ wrath for the first time.

Many Blues have taken the view of enough is enough and blame Moyes for humiliating us once too often.  This seems over the top, but in many respects it is a case of the straw breaking the camels back.  We have suffered many humiliations, plenty of those have been in the last 10 years.  This is just the latest in a long line of watersheds.  The difference this time was that we had been led to believe we were now out of the doldrums and ready to become a top side again.

We were promised a great future in the Champions League and Moyes has failed to deliver.  Expect he didn’t actually promise us anything of the sort, but we weren’t interested in a realistic viewpoint.  So, ignore the fact he has signed Italian, Danish, English, Portuguese and Dutch internationals this summer to bolster a small squad; instead, let's ridicule him for being ‘crap’ at negotiating transfers.  Ignore the fact we are not a rich club and have to work within a fairly tight budget; just slam him for showing no ambition by refusing to pay over the odds for transfer fees and wages.  Ignore the fact that we made bids for at least six high profile strikers, and reportedly agreed terms and gave medicals to two; simply slam his short-sightedness in not signing a striker.  Ignore the likes of Phil Neville saying his thoroughness, preparation and desire put him in the bracket of a young Alex Ferguson; call for this out-of-his-depth sap to be sacked.  We want the world and we want it now.

When David Moyes took over, we were a million miles away from European football and we all accepted it would take a good few years to stabilise the club and attempt to bridge the gap.  In the short three years since then, he’s seen around 20 first team players, most of whom who cost the club a small fortune to buy, leave for next to nothing.  Remember mercenaries such as Nyarko, Alexandersson; pensioners such as Gemmill, Gascoigne and Ginola; and cripples such as Cleland and Blomqvist?

One by one, they disappeared, along with most of our money.  Eventually, just over a year ago, we were down to 18 first team players.  Then the best one jumped ship and suddenly Moyes had money to spend, but no time to spend it.  Nevertheless, he soldiered on and dragged this ragbag squad into January in a Champions’ League place.

Then he had 4 weeks to bolster the squad – ready, steady go!  In reality, it’s not long, but we still managed to break our transfer record and sign that 20-goal-a-season striker we’ve been waiting for.  Since then, he’s mostly been injured and, although he has looked less than convincing when he has played, he has never been fully fit.  Still, at this point, we were way ahead of schedule; absolutely no need to panic.

Then, out of the blue, Real Madrid wanted Thomas Gravesen.  None of us know exactly what went on, but Moyes had no option but to let him go.  In a blind panic to replace him, he got any old midfielder, and ended up with ex-Rangers misfit Mikel Arteta on loan.  Anyone who has watched his progress would surely agree that Moyes has helped him to adapt to the Premiership and see him as one of our few top class players.  Maybe it wasn’t just a panic buy after all...

Since then, we have stuttered, but against all the odds we carried enough momentum to qualify for the Champions League qualifiers and put the kopites in their place.  Except they wriggled out and foiled us yet again.  Still, we were now in a position of being able to match them and finally claiming our rightful place amongst the European elite.  All we had to do was buy a decent back-up goalkeeper, two new full backs, two new centre backs, a right winger, a left winger, a dominant central midfielder and at least one striker.  Easy peasy.  Oh yeah, make sure they’re all stamped Champions League Quality.

When Moyes kept trying to dampen down expectations, he was ignored.  Now he is accused of lack of ambition when in actual fact it is just realism.  The squad that finished last season was too small for the extra games, and having mostly been bought on a shoestring, lacking the real quality needed for the Champions League.  This wasn’t going to be put right in 3 months.

Nonetheless, many Blues would argue that Moyes now has a squad of his own making and has no excuses any more.  This assumes that Kevin Kilbane and James McFadden are his left wingers of choice, or maybe they were simply the best we could afford at the time.  Are Arteta and Van der Meyde Moyes’s dream midfielders... or simply worthwhile gambles at a low price?

The players Moyes has really splashed out on are Wright, Yobo, Krøldrup and Beattie, and perhaps Davies and Neville.  It could well be argued that, as Moyes was willing to spend £5-6M on a central midfielder (Parker, Sissoko), Neville is a cut-price alternative.  Some may argue that some of the above signings are reason enough to sack Moyes.

In truth, Wright was hailed as something of a coup by most Blues at the time; Yobo still has plenty of time to become the world-class player he is capable of; Krøldrup is yet to play; and Beattie needs to get fit and have a strike partner to find out if he is the player Moyes thought he was buying.

The fact is if we had a budget like Newcastle we may never have signed Tim Cahill or Nigel Martyn, for example.  In fairness, Tottenham seem a good benchmark for bringing in both experience and potential, but of course they have the money to spend to afford to take more risks on youth.  If the likes of Lennon, Huddlestone or Dawson flop they can be quietly shunted out.  For us, the £1.25M apparently wasted on McFadden’s is proof of Moyes poor transfer judgement, despite the fact we could recoup most of that if we chose to sell him.

Coming back to the present day, we are looking every inch a side bereft of confidence and form.  Every player’s frailties are exposed.  Hibbert is being dismissed due to his poor distribution; last season we chose to ignore it.  The difference is last season he wasn’t our only outlet.  Arteta summed us up against Arsenal in the second half.  Every time he was in space, rather than looking up as he usually does he turned into Ray Wilkins.

Hopefully we can get the likes of Krøldrup, Van der Meyde and Beattie — the players Moyes has signed to take us forward — fit and integrated as soon as possible.  The problem — as we have seen with Valente and Ferrarri, who showed some good qualities in a tough Highbury debut — is that it is no fun for new signings coming into a struggling side.

Last season, we had momentum to carry us through.  Then something horrible and unfair happened.  The season ended and the points went back to 0.  We had to do it all again, with our tight-knit squad perhaps feeling less secure due to players in their position either joining or being linked with us.  Now, all that they worked so hard for last season is about to disappear after a hectic opening month and they are at the bottom of the mountain, perhaps less sure of their position in the manager’s thoughts than before.

With all this in mind, it is little wonder that they seem shell-shocked and short of self-belief.  Lack of confidence in yourself and your team-mates can affect your mental capacity to give that extra 10%.  When the objective is in sight, you can push yourself that bit more.  When it has been snatched away and the journey back seems longer than ever it can be very hard to dredge up the will to put it right.  So, whilst I agree that Marcus Bent’s words sound like excuses, I can kind of see where he is coming from.

Which brings us to this Saturday and the visit of Wigan Athletic, followed by the return leg against Dinamo Bucharest.  These games may not be pretty to watch, and things may get worse before they get better, but the players and management need us behind them encouraging them to strive for the win.  Some may think they don’t deserve our backing, but that is largely irrelevant.  At times lack this we need to stick together and hope that things can begin to turn our way.  It may be a long, painful climb back up the mountain, but we have to start somewhere.  And if things are going well on Saturday and somebody breaks into a chorus of ‘He’s got red hair, but we don’t care’, I might just hum along... under me breath like.

Rob Fox

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