The Very Highest Standards

I don't recall seeing you post anything of late, however, with the quality of your piece and with the obvious thought that has gone into it; I look forward to any future postings of yours.

With regards the three potential candidates, one might well darken our door before the EoS; one will I doubt (imho) never darken our door, unless there is a major upturn in fortune and status; and lastly one might darken our door if he is thought to be behind the eight ball on his current project?

Only time will tell; however, we must remember that there are alternatives in the managerial world, that given the correct circumstance, new club ownership and the change in the PSRs, that we could attract and that may well outstrip any the three named managers performances if they ever arrived here.

I've never been one for a former Evertonian is needed to manage the club, just get the best possible.

Many thanks and good wishes 🙂 👍

Regarding Moyes, you capture my own thoughts perfectly when you say: "Moyes would fit that particular short-term bill, and is clearly the most realistic of the three. But longer term, it’s the skillsets of men like Arteta and Howe that should be considered... "

Would I, as someone who once wrote a piece entitled "The Terrifying Spectre of Moyes" (context — i.e. the possibility of Ancelotti at the time — is key here, folks), be averse to Moyes coming back if things continue to deteriorate under Dyche? Not at all, as long as it would be on a fixed term until the end the end of the season.

But as I made the point recently on the TW podcast, knowing Everton he would do a decent-enough job that we'd just keep him around and I worry that, Europa Conference League win notwithstanding, he's blighted by the same glass ceiling that Everton as a club has been for the past 30 years.

Where Arteta is concerned, it would take a significant upturn in our fortunes for a manager of his calibre to end up at Bramley-Moore Dock. Howe is more likely for obvious reasons and I have to say he has surprised me with the job he has done at Newcastle. I think we all feared he'd be a bit Martinez given Bournemouth's defensive frailties under his stewardship.

Our only hope is to discover one of those unknown dynamic innovators like Shankly, Revie, Clough, Ferguson (Aberdeen) who created champions from sawdust. But with our record you can't help but think of that old gag - "hope" is probably in the zero to slim region but slim has left town.

There are / were those who thought Moyes was the Moyesiah and those not - I'm a Not

And I'm thankful for small mercies the our late (un?)lamented sentimental schemer is no longer there to push his cause.

(For those who remember the Andy Williams Show and the Cookie Bear)
Not now, Not ever - Never!

The best managers can and will demand and get all three – and to me, Howe and Arteta exemplify this.

In my opinion, the hopeless way our club has long since been run, regardless of our fabulous fan-base, means we genuinely are not, and won't be for a good while to come, attractive to anyone of proven talent as a direct result of our hideous level of debt – and to me, Carlo Ancelotti exemplifies this.

Fair play, they were patient and backed him with a very big transfer kitty and it's paid off. However, the difficulty is that, if we'd have got him, a shaky start like that and a limited budget would probably have seen us relegated.

Howe, for me, is Dyche with a bigger budget, a bit more attacking ambition but inferior defensive organisation. He'd have taken us down and, without a big budget, would not take us forward.

It does though depend on what you want to achieve: survival in the Premier League; or actually winning or at least challenging for something?

My preference would be for a good training ground coach which might mean searching lower divisions both here and abroad for somebody who has achieved something, cup run or promotion, no matter how small, while playing adventurous, entertaining football.

1. Conservative low-risk football to give us the best chance of staying up with a poor squad hit with injuries.

2. More adventurous football to revive the enthusiasm of the fans, but accepting it will lead to relegation sooner or later.

No managerial change can overcome the disadvantage of a poor injury-hit squad – while the gap in spending with every single other Premier League club gets wider and wider.

A managerial change makes no material difference (other than a fleeting bounce). Only the takeover and money can do that.

Even option 1 doesn't guarantee survival unfortunately. It just gives us a better chance. Really it is astonishing that we are still a Premier League club at all after the last 3 nightmare seasons.

Moyes did well in limiting conditions. He made himself the highest earner at the club and then stitched us up when he left.

I think Silva and Ancellotti would have done very well at arsenal and Newcastle given their spending. I don't arteta or Howe would do well in our current plight.

Not even a billionaire can get clubs competing with the big boys now. Psr has protected the top dogs who are now hunting City down and preventing Newcastle from joining the party.

We need innovation, a modern version of Wenger. With his anti royalist stance maybe Carsley will be available if and when Dyche departs.

I think Everton 2024-25 would be a good fit for Howe and not an unattractive one.

Great article by the way!

‘With his anti-royalist stance. maybe Carsley will be available.'

He just doesn't sing anthems, for the love of God!

Dyche is not given credit for what has been achieved at Everton. That's right, achieved. The constraints are the squad, funds and owner uncertainty. Dyche is not the problem, he is the heat sink for the fans who need a sacrifice so they can cling to the memory of what the club used to be in better times.

Sorry for being rude, Jon. It is the argument made, nothing personal.

I will always remember him as the man who in all probability saved Everton FC from oblivion.

Only problem with that is he was recommended by the son of a very, if not the most, successful manager because of what he saw of him on a coaching course. Has he yet achieved anything?

Yes, in the lower leagues. Check his record.

I don't get this ‘logic'. Is Moyes on some sort of retainer? Has he openly stated he wants to come back for another go?

Why is he viewed as some sort of guaranteed mid-table deliverer over and above lots of other candidates?

How many other clubs have this fixation on returning managers being top of their lists?

To your point – remember when Sunderland brought Moyes in after a similar start? Or Real Sociedad? The guy was only ever brought in as a malleable yesman when the height of our ambition was avoiding relegation – in that respect, how's he better than Sean Dyche?

Plus the game evolves and he's an old man now – it's more than a decade since he left. I've no confidence Moyes could get the same or more out of this squad than Dyche.

I think Moyes is a clear alternative purely on the basis he is currently out of work (as well as his former stint at the club). It's not because he is a step up from Dyche.

It seems unlikely we could afford to pay another club compensation for any in-work manager.

So it's probably only Moyes and Potter – and Moyes is the more obvious candidate of the two for various reasons.

Probably too fanciful to expect someone like Terzic to step in.

I was screaming for Arteta when we went for Carlo, it was weird at the time as both were appointed within a few days of one another and one could have been forgiven for assuming it was a misprint and Carlo was going to Arsenal and Mikel (my favourite all-time player) was coming home.

I think Dyche has two games to get points or he will be gone and Moyes in for the rest of the season on the cheap. I would advocate this, assuming though that the takeover is completed.

Moyes is not the man to take us forward but rather steady the ship and I think he would jump at another paycheck and a chance to return. The ducks are lined up.

New season (hopefully in the Premier League!), new stadium and it presents an opportunity for a complete reset. A forward-thinking manager with some link to the club would be ideal.

It is possible Howe will be available, it is certainly possible the FA won't have the balls to appoint Carsley. Both for me would represent our club well, be happy to be there, and would want to play forward attacking football.

Now to just "survive the season" again. COYB.

If we do change manager, it will be subject to the takeover. I read an article in The Telegraph yesterday and apparently the current establishment are adamant that Dyche is staying until the end of the season.

Arteta is a pipe dream. He won't touch Everton given his current situation at Arsenal. He would have to be sacked, which I can't see happening any time soon.

Howe could be an option, as he's apparently having friction with the Newcastle board and the DoF. But I've always thought of him as the English Martinez.

If we do change it, I'd rather look to the continent. There are only 5 British managers in the Premier League.

But I don't think Arteta would have come to Everton even 5 years ago. Unfortunately, Arsenal were always going to be more attractive for any manager.

Until we put the appropriate structure and systems in place, any manager will struggle to move the club forward. Arsenal started their revamp behind the scenes before Wenger left. They still had much to do when his successor was appointed. Even a manager as astute as Emery found it impossible to turn things around in the 18 months he was allowed.

I think Arteta was too shrewd to take a job with us in December 2019. Once Arsenal came calling, there was no chance. He would surely have recognised the financial situation exacerbated by the burden of funding the new stadium would make the task a thankless one for several years to come.

That Carlo Ancelotti accepted the job was a surprise. As we later discovered, he was given unrealistic expectations about the money available for transfers and walked away at the earliest opportunity.

Whoever our next manager is, he very likely faces a steep uphill climb at least in the medium term. No elite manager will be interested. They will all avoid it like the plague. I am afraid whoever comes in will not be good enough for many fans.

The first thing we have to remember is we have a weakened squad both in quality and numbers and the 5 subs rule has compounded that.

When we got Moyes, he was a young up-and-coming manager with a good reputation and plenty of energy and motivation. We need the same profile now. Not an aging David Moyes.

I look at guys like O'Neill and Rob Edwards who could achieve a lot more with better players at their respective clubs, so I think Textor is thinking along the right lines when he said we need quality players and a coach who can manage that sort of player.

I think it is a disgrace that Everton have for years neglected the need to adequately replace Lukaku and bring in players at full-back given the advancing years of Coleman and the lack of cover for Mykolenko.

We need a total reset from top to bottom and model ourselves on the likes of Brighton to walk before we can run.

I think it is notable that our last 4 managers, including Dyche, were all out of work – needing no compensation package.

That leaves Moyes and Potter as more likely candidates.

It also leaves Terzic and Tuchel but surely neither would be remotely interested in a penniless club with a crap squad and long-standing dysfunctional behind-the-scenes issues.

That may prove to be our most attractive asset!

Our finances and options improve immensely once we make it into the new stadium as a Premier League club. Light will start to shine through our dark tunnel at that stage.

The game changer with all of this is the takeover. If the takeover goes ahead and it (hopefully) becomes clear there's money for a couple of new players in January (probably two full-backs), then we might be much more attractive to the sorts of managers we actually want.

Then maybe we could go for someone like Tervitz? Why not?I'd like to try something different than the usual suspects. He's got a good pedigree. Youth coach under Klopp and then to coach the first team, winning the German cup and runner up in the Champions League.

First things first though. Get points on the board and sort out the takeover.

Howe may have achieved a big Club stability at Newcastle He is now in danger of hitting a glass ceiling.There is something about Howe that does not scream potential.

I put Moyes in the shot potential category.He is limited and knows it.His words even now reflect the reality of his soul.This is the reality of his work. Where ever he managed, trying to maintain his job in the Premier ship impressing his bosses.Thats what he currently wants.

The evolution of that potential has to start within and on the ground at Everton.The Manager to gel it all together will come after that.

Same for most managers.

Until the club has fathomed a way of feeding the manager / coach a set of quality players, there is a glass ceiling.

Moyes and Martinez did will of sorts, but neither could overcome the fact that our First XI just wasn't quite good enough and our squad depth was pretty pitiful.

It's not the managers who have upgraded academies at Brighton, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea etc or engaged in extensive overseas scouting, tie-ups with affiliate clubs, youth player trading etc. But their managers reap the rewards of all this with quality players on a conveyor belt or developed on loan, or a swollen transfer kitty for genuine first-team players.

If the Friedkins manage to get this sort of thing in place, we might find we suddenly start appointing much more competent managers...

So am I, and I rate him more than Eddie Howe.

The takeover hasn't really changed anything yet and, as Denis's article shows, we face big problems at the end of the season in rebuilding a squad.

Our main aim is to get this takeover through and survive this season. Then – and only then – can we look at rebuilding.

Whilst I don't dispute what you say, Everton just cannot remain as is, when the new owner is in place. I think we all understand that things will take time, but the fatalistic attitude surrounding the club and the fanbase cannot be allowed to prevail a second longer than is absolutely necessary.

A guy in The Guardian wrote prior to our game with Palace.

This club [Everton] was never meant to be a vale of tears or hostage to overblown ambition. Everton should be able to exist happily, to be a fun club with a good fanbase and a realistic sense of its own reach.

He goes on to sing the praises of Dyche, which is fair enough for the job he's done so far with Everton, but if our manager keeps going on about the pressures behind the scenes which the fans are apparently unaware of, and keeps himself and his team believing that it is tantamount to impossible for our club to find something a little more than to avoid the dreaded drop, then the financials won't make much difference to the short to medium term prospects of our club.

The manager could make a start on changing the current narrative surrounding the club if he could find more belief in his players and give his players greater belief in themselves. That wouldn't cost a penny of our limited budget but could be worth a great deal to the club and its supporters.

We shouldn't be overly optimistic about our place in the food chain, but we shouldn't give in too easily to seeing our place as permanent relegation candidates. New owners, new ground, and hopefully new perspectives and prospects.

I agree – far too much credit is given to managers but I would add far too much blame is as well. There is a fixation with managers among not only fans but also the media and club boards.

Most managerial appointments are made in response to a crisis or perceived failure or underachievement without regard to the root causes of a club's problems. That is why most appointments fail.

In my opinion, our new owners should focus first and foremost on putting in place the structures required for long-term success. That will inevitably take time and patience.

My concern is that, like many owners before them in pursuit of short-term fixes, they will change the manager while keeping their fingers crossed the new man can work miracles.

I was going to add to my post... 'but would he come'? He was very complimentary about Goodison recently (was it last season's game at GP?). He's an excellent manager, with a team without any names that jump to mind and his team plays good football.

According to Dan Meis, the way the new stadium has been designed, it will be loud with the crowd right on top of the pitch... it will need a manager who can harness that atmosphere and make it a very positive effect. It will bring hope, excitement, and a craving for being entertained. This will mean playing far differently than we have been doing for many a year.

I have no idea what potential manager would fit that bill bearing in mind some of the players we will still have, although there will also be a lot out of contract and any new manager must have some input into recruitment.

One of the main reasons I mentioned Frank is that he has had experience of the Premier League, is a good tactician, speaks English (obviously) and plays to win.

But... and it's a big but... would he leave Brentford? Or should I say, could a new ground, new owner, and ability to buy players in key positions tempt him?

It just doesn't matter right now.

Nothing matters but being in the Premier League when Friedkin takes over and the new stadium is opened. From there, the sky is the limit, but for now, nothing matters -- not style, not appeal, not why didn't we replace Lukaku.

All that matters is enough points to stay up. Dyche is absolutely the guy to make sure we get them. Time enough to talk about a new manager when the new era dawns.

And for what it's worth, I think that manager won't be any of the names we've mentioned. It'll either be a global superstar -- remember, Friedkin lured Mourinho to Roma -- or it'll be a guy we've never yet heard of.

Maybe no household names but they've also spent heavily – much more than us – in the past few years. They have spent more on their squad than we have on ours.

So it seems unlikely we'd kick on under Frank unless we could give him a big transfer kitty.

David Moyes moves closer to Finch Farm

Moyes the grey man, multi millionaire moves to Lytham.

Bet he still only lets his Mrs put one bar on the fire.

Everton FC is a glaring example of this. I hope the new owners can get all the necessary aspects of running a successful club, and team, in place, and we can look forward to pleasurable Saturday afternoons with optimism.

We need a plan from the top, we need that plan to concentrate on unadulterated professionalism, and only then will the choice of manager be the most important issue, imo.