Moyes the New Trev

For a long time many of us have been hoping that Moyes would turn out to be the new Alex Ferguson. Like Fergie he inherited a giant that had fallen on hard times and like Fergie he reached got through several years without a trophy. Now, granted Fergie had more money and had previously won trophies whereas Moyes never has, but the longer that we go without a trophy the more I think Moyes isn't the messiah we had hoped for.

Some of you may recall the previous Walter Smith era at rangers during which his side won the league every year. Towards the end of his tenure Celtic had Tommy Burns as boss and each year his team got better and better and played some nice football and had some great players. They always seemed on the verge of winning but somehow they never did. The year after Burns left they DID win the championship for the first time in a decade. Tommy it turned out had the ability to put a good team together but lacked the edge to turn them into champions.

Back in the early 90's you may remember Trevor Francis as Sheff Wed boss. He almost won the league in '92. He almost won a cup in '93 when they reached both finals. At Birmingham he almost got them promoted every year but they always lost in the players. In 2001 he even got them to the League Cup Final which they lost to compound their misery after almost being promoted but falling short yet again.

I always liked Trevor and Tommy. They were able to creat pretty good teams on pretty small budgets and almost won some trophies. sadly though for Wednesday fans thsoe almost mean nothing now as they languish in the Championship. Those almosts did nothing for Trev or Tommy career wise either and I am afraid Moyes is heading their way.

One thing about Burns, Moyes, Francis, Gerry Francis, David Pleat and Alan Curbishley is that they have all had issues with players who have big ego's and attitudes and their solution has always been to replace them with nice guys who keep their heads down and stay out of trouble. Maybe their is something to be said for having a Roy Keane, a Duncan Ferguson or a Paul Ince in your team. Having a team of Gary Linekers isn't perhaps the best option. We didn't win anything when we had him funnily enough whereas we did with the less prolific but more spirited Andy Gray.

Moyes has to learn how to deal with problem players other than showing them the exit door. we as a team lack character. i was shocked at Anfield to see the Liverpool players roughing up our lads early on. The Joe Royle team would have given as good as they got but these nice lads seemed to be intimidated and the only fire we saw was Phil Nevilles petulance after he left the field.

I think that the reason we lose cup games is because of this lack of character. It is not enough to give 100%. We lose in cup games to the big 4 and to minnows. Those types of teams have one thing in common ... they give 110%. The big teams know they have to to keep their jobs and the minnows have nothing to lose and a once in a lifetime opportunity to beat a premiership team. We on the other hand play to our usual level and lose against opponents with more character who jump an inch higher, run a yard faster and just refuse to lose.

I am not saying we should sack Moyes. he has done an amazing job with limited resources but I just feel that we are the poor mans Arsenal. A nice team of characterless players who think 100% and playing fair is enough when it is not. Arsenal are the Portugal of the Premierhsip. the nearly men. We are the Poortugal.

Moyes needs to add a leader on the field or add a strong asst manager who will get the wind up people. If he doesn't he can get a job with Trevor Francis and david Pleat as a nearly man who never won a trophy because his character didn't match his football brain.

Reader Comments

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Andy Hughes
1   Posted 15/04/2008 at 06:07:43

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This is an excellent article. I am a supporter of Moyes but if he really is a great manager he would seek assistance in the areas he is lacking - namely, as Kieran points out, the ability to get that extra 10% out of players.
If not we will continue to be nearly men. Does anyone have any thoughts on how this could be structured (An assistant manager, or a director of football, or perhaps something different)
Anthony Horabin
2   Posted 15/04/2008 at 07:35:56

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I have been saying for a while that Moyes needs an assistant to bounce ideas off. Our creativity has vanished recently and our basic passing football has gone too!
Peter Corcoran
3   Posted 15/04/2008 at 07:51:07

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David Moyes has won me over in the past few years but I would liken him to Devon Lock - he sees the winning post and falls over with nothing of note in front of him.

I would not sack DM either but he needs someone along side him to give him some help. I could be wrong but I don’t think that any other manager at the top of the PL is working alone.

I would appoint a coach who knows how to pass a ball so he can teach our players to do the same - preferably not colour blind.
Derek Thomas
4   Posted 15/04/2008 at 08:10:47

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Kieran: absolutely loved it, absolutely spot on, absolutely fabulous.(calm down)

The same comments I made on Marshy’s piece mesh in with this.

I feel you may have hit the nail on the head, Moyes, close, but no cigar.
Billy Dean
5   Posted 15/04/2008 at 08:36:12

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It?s funny how, when we were playing like Arsenal around November/December, everyone was saying it?s because Moyes didn?t have an asst any more!!

But it was an interesting article and I agree with it. The team?s heads do seem to drop very quickly when things don?t go their way. Is that down to Moyes though or is it because our squad is so small that we don?t have many options to change things mid-game?
Tom Kelly
6   Posted 15/04/2008 at 08:39:45

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I?m surprised at the focus on Moyes, and his inability to makes bricks without straw.
His achievement in getting the team to where it is given the resources he has been given is remarkable. If the teamdoesn?t progress and win something it will be because he has not been given more resources not because of some personal failing or character fault. He is simply the best manager Everton could possibly hope to attract in their current financial state and given the Board he works to.
Evertonians should concentrate on persuading him to stay because the only direction should we lose him is down and if he doesn?t get the backing to improve the squad as he knows he needs to then he will go because he will have outgrown the club
Ciarán McGlone
7   Posted 15/04/2008 at 09:31:26

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Why is their a constant misrepresentation on the resources Moyes has had over the last 5 years?

I see words like ?remarkable?, ?worked wonders? etc...

Now I believe Moyes is the man for our team and he is learning his trade, but why do Evertonians feel the need to ignore the bleeding obvious.... 50% of Davey?s transfers have been utter shite. That means he has wasted 50% of the substantial transfer fees he has been handed.....

Now if that amounts to ?remarkable?..then I?d hate to see what shite would be.....
Jason Lam
8   Posted 15/04/2008 at 09:36:40

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Does anybody have on hand how many times we have won coming from behind this season? It’s all too easy to say we were playing like Arsenal blah blah but the hallmarks of champions are those that stand up and be counted, grind out those wins - by accepting life is never fair. Obviously Moyes has something to do with it as he’s not buying or playing players with ’character’. I do believe it’s an essential element of a winning team. Those that did are either crap technically or have since retired/transferred.

I was quite fond of David Pleat at Spurs. 4-5-1 with a midfield you could only dream of: Hoddle, Waddle, Ardiles, Hodge, P. Allen. No wonder Clive Allen got 49 goals, your average grandmother could score with that midfield! Alas, the FA Cup Final..
Ciarán McGlone
9   Posted 15/04/2008 at 10:31:59

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Who said we?ve played like Arsenal?

Whoever did hasn?t watched much football this season... I?ve seen every match this season and the amount of decent displays I?ve seen since christmas I could count on one hand.

Winning matches against the run of play is not playing good football.
Simon George
10   Posted 15/04/2008 at 12:04:32

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Year after year Everton have progressed and improved with Moyes. We are now in poor form and the knives are out already, thats madness, all teams have ups and downs and its very clear why we’re going through poor form right now.

Imagine how good Everton could be if we continued the upward trend that Moyes has brought.

Lets be honest, when Moyes joined we were:
Fighting relegation
Old poor squad
No respect within the pemiership

Now we are:
Chasing the champions league positions
Young squad
Respected throughout europe.

Please remember how far Davey has brought us...
Chris Green
11   Posted 15/04/2008 at 12:18:05

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Ciaran, your comment about transfers is a little harsh. 50% is a bit over the top as well, but compared to other managers, Moyes has done very well.

When you consider Wenger and Rafa etc, they spend huge money on lots of players, and some of them are shite too. I mean look at the dross that has rolled through our friends over the park, should I mention Josemi? Or than winger bloke who they bought with fanfare from Real!?

Kroldrup was a mistake, and VDM has disappointed, but for £1.8m, not exactly a diasaster. When you look at the others though, Howard, Lescott, Jags, Valente, Arteta, Pienaar, Cahill, Yakubu, etc we haven’t spent that much and they have been excellent.

I agree with that Moyes needs an assistant and someone to wind up the players a bit more. But he is the best out there for us, and I back him 100%. I certainy could see Rafa building a team with the resources we have!!
Tony Williams
12   Posted 15/04/2008 at 13:13:34

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Good read but the comparisons with the other managers just don?t hold water, yes Moyes is a nearly man but when you consider the state of the leagues with Francis and Moyes there is nothing similar, when Francis was in charge there were a number of teams that could possibly win the league and the money was more fairly dispersed and the teams were mostly British.

Now almost all of the pie is shared between 4 teams and the crumbs given to the rest. I have always said that Moyes has his faults but I honestly cannot think of another manager that would take his role on who we could a) afford or b) persuade to join us.
Ciarán McGlone
13   Posted 15/04/2008 at 14:26:02

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Chris, if you do the calculation you’ll see that it is around 50%...some players we’ve got rid of, some still getting on, and some that we’ve forgotten about...

To suggest that wenger spends large amounts of money on players who you would consider shite....well, I can’t see how that stacks up...because i can’t think of one apart from jeffers..and even then i wouldn’t consider him to be shite...just another failed evertonian who had great promise.

as for your comment about benitez....just because he buys shite doesn’t mean it’s an excuse for Moyes to do likewise.
Colin Grierson
14   Posted 15/04/2008 at 14:24:19

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He needs a number 2, I think we would all agree on that. As just mentioned though, the comparisons being made are against the times when we would start the season wondering who would win the league. Those days are gone.
I think we need a technical coach who concentrates on getting the team to build from the back rather than play the long ball. We also need some technically gifted midfielders. Moyes has made some great buys and one or two shockers. Lets hope Bill backs him in the summer and he pulls a couple out of the hat.
Andrew Payne
15   Posted 15/04/2008 at 16:08:37

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We were "nearly men" not so long ago when we were nearly relegated. At least we can say we are nearly in the top four now. This article is a load of old bollocks! What on earth is wrong with people?
Joe McMahon
16   Posted 15/04/2008 at 16:33:56

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A good article, I?ve always thought Trevor Francis unlucky really, didn?t he take Brum to the League Cup Final only to be beaton on penalties by the penalty experts in 99?

Moyes defo lacks any creativity, I?ve always thought that someone like Gianfranco Zola would be a good No 2. He would bring alternative ideas with flair, attacking and creativity. I wonder if Poyet at Spurs is the unsung hero, Leeds went downhill when he left.


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