Candidates to the Old Trafford succession #3: David Moyes
Goodbye Goodison Park. Hello, Old Trafford?
When Sir Alex Ferguson was constructing his team talk in his mind en route to the dressing room after United’s season opening loss at Goodison Park, the man on the receiving end of the United Boss’ handshake was wearing a beaming smile on his face. For sure, David Moyes had made a spectacular start to the season, not only for the scoreline, but also for the confident and convincing manner in which they went on to achieve it.
Six games later, Everton are still placed at a highly respectable fourth place, while their city rivals Liverpool have just about managed to clamber out of the relegation zone. Everton are looking a more clinical side than ever this season, unlike the Everton of yesteryears, when they would nicely warm the mid-table until January and then have a fantastic run of games that would lift them to their customary seventh or eighth place, Brendan Rodgers has turned Anfield into an ‘impenetrable fortress’ where even Liverpool can’t seem to win.
David Moyes, much like Ferguson at Aberdeen, started off at Everton with a desire to give the ‘Top Four’ of England a run for their money. And much like Fergie’s Aberdeen, Moyes’ Everton too is a club that you just cannot hate. Both Scots began with an ambition to beat the clubs which looked down upon theirs as a mere scrap of dust, which they had to brush away in order to maintain their supremacy. But Ferguson’s dust was soon whipped up into a sandstorm that shook the very faith of the Old Firm, with both Celtic and Rangers trembling at the thought of playing Aberdeen at Pittodrie; well, at least until Ferguson left.
Moyes’ first half as Everton manager, however, bore a striking resemblance to the structure of the typical roller coaster. After a 15th place finish in his first year, followed a typical Everton 7th place. Then came Moyes’ most hellish season in charge of the Toffees as he just about kept them from relegation. This was followed by the Scot’s most impressive performance as Everton qualified for the Champions League with a fourth place finish, and almost inevitably Everton went back to the mid-table in the season after that.
From 2006/07 however, Moyes has been impressively, and startlingly, consistent with Everton. Everton qualified for their third successive Europa League in 2008/09 and the following seasons saw Everton securing an 8th place and two 7th place finishes.
No one said its going to be a cakewalk, though.
So, why is David Moyes, a man with no major bragging right in terms of solid-metal achievement being considered to fill the gigantic boots of the most successful manager ever? Well, to begin with, my first example would be that of a lumberjack. If you give the lumberjack a chainsaw and ask him to fell twenty trees and an axe to fell ten trees, which task do you think he will finish sooner? (Even if he is one of those extraordinary men who says ‘yes’ to the second option).
My point exactly.
The second and strongest example is that of ‘Sir’ Roberto Mancini, the greatest manager to ever grace the English game. If Mancini, with all the money in the world, and players of the likes of Aguero, Tevez, Silva, Toure, Dzeko and all, should win the title on goal difference, then imagine what David Moyes, who has built an actual ‘team’ even with the meagre resources that Everton has to offer, could achieve if he gets his hands on the likes of Wayne Rooney, Tom Cleverley, Nick Powell, and possibly Robin Van Persie three years from now, when Fergie calls it a day on a career spanning almost three decades with United alone.
Yes, David Moyes can win a game or two hundred with United. And, provided he is given plenty of time and encouragement by the board, just like Ferguson was, he can also add a trophy or twenty to the cabinet.
Glory! Glory! Man United!
Recap: In our list of potential successors of Sir Alex, we first took a look at how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the man who put the ball into the Germans’ net, could make a dream return to United. Read it here.
Then we thought about how formidably United could soar under the ‘Special One’, Jose Mourinho. And just now we read about David Moyes and how he can whip up a storm in England with United. Read it here.
Who could possibly be next?
Well, for that you can either wait a little, or you can follow this clue:
The fourth candidate to the Old Trafford succession plies his trade at a club whose stadium’s average attendance is even greater than Old Trafford’s! And it is not Tito Vilanova.