David Moyes - Only time will tell

David Moyes’s first day at Manchester United

When David Moyes replaced Walter Smith at Everton on 14th March, 2002, he won the fan’s hearts at his first ever Press conference declaring Everton as “The People’s Club” on Merseyside.

He said: “I am from a city (Glasgow) that is not unlike Liverpool. I am joining the people’s football club. The majority of people you meet on the street are Everton fans. It is a fantastic opportunity, something you dream about. I said ‘yes’ right away as it is such a big club.”

Everton Chairman Bill Kenwright was so convinced about his ability that he contacted Moyes and invited him to his home in London to discuss the available position at Everton. Moyes was reluctant at first but later agreed to meet him in London where he met Kenwright for an hour.

Prior to his appointment, Everton were under threat of being relegated but they managed to sustain a decent run of form to avoid it. David Moyes began his first full season as Everton head coach with a host of changes at the club which resulted in a satisfactory 7th place finish after being edged out of UEFA Cup qualification by Blackburn Rovers. Moyes was awarded LMA Manager of the Year for the first time, to go with the Manager of the Month award for November 2002, when the Toffees had been in the Champions League places.

However, Everton couldn’t sustain that run of form in the following season by finishing 17th with 39 pts, lowest in the club’s history just avoiding relegation. A confrontation between Moyes and Duncan Ferguson at Everton’s training ground was said to be symptomatic of the problems at the club that season.

Despite the turmoil at the club, Moyes managed to bring in Tim Cahill, who is considered as his best signing scoring 15 goals in his debut season for the Toffees. That form enabled Everton to surpass all expectations and finish 4th in the league and qualify for the Champions League for the following season.

Despite that sudden rise in form, Everton finished the 2005-06 season on a lowly 11th after spending much of the season battling relegation. Everton finished in a much better position in 2006-07 as they claimed 6th in the league.