ONLY two games into the new Premiership season and a handful of managers are already seeing their jobs looking less safe than when the season started. Wigan's Roberto Martinez has been tipped to be the first casualty, after heavy defeats to newcomers Blackpool and current champions Chelsea. However, the recent 1-0 victory over Tottenham at White Hart Lane may have eradicated any hastiness that Wigan chairman Dave Whelan may have been considering. Such excellent results like the Spurs one may even prompt Whelan to rename the Spaniard ‘DW Martinez’ if they continue; such is the pride that Whelan shows towards his assets. Martinez is relatively new to the Premier League, something probably in his favour when it comes to forgiveness; however, it is one of the longest-serving managers in the Premiership, David Moyes of Everton, who may well be the dark-horse to leave his job sooner or later.
Sir Alex Ferguson (unsurprisingly not the subject of this article) tipped Everton to be a surprise package in this year’s Premiership, with the Scot backing his compatriot Moyes to break into the top four with his Everton side. With Manchester City and Liverpool going through a period of transition, Arsenal struggling with injuries, Aston Villa currently without a manager and Tottenham competing in the Champions League for the first time, Ferguson pointed to Everton as the side who could sneak under the radar to surprise them all.
The Toffees, as per usual, ended last season strongly, particularly at the turn of the year, with the return of Mikel Arteta from injury proving a catalyst in the way they recovered from their poor start. Promising youngsters Jack Rodwell and Dan Gosling (now at Newcastle) gave Evertonian’s hope that the future was bright, and new signings Dimitar Bilyaletdinov and Johnny Heitinga settled in well.
Sir Alex thus, was probably not alone in singing Everton's praises ahead of the new campaign. Despite the chase for Champions League places being tougher than ever, Everton appeared to be in the right shape, physically and mentally, for a successful season.
Unfortunately, the Everton faithful have seen their club make an all-too familiar start, failing to win any of their opening 3 games or keep a clean sheet, and only scoring once themselves in the 1-1 draw against Wolves. It’s all well and good finishing the season on a high, but if you start the season carelessly and sluggishly, then finishing strongly is the least you can hope for. Last season Everton had only won 3 league games by Christmas, making the 11-match unbeaten run that they finished the season on even more impressive. Come Christmas, they had to fight, and fight well.
Moyes would undoubtedly call himself a fighter of sorts, particularly as his club, with limited funds, have seen themselves go head to head with richer clubs over recent seasons. The fury seen on Moyes’ face last season when scarf-wearing Roberto Mancini dared to enter his personal space with his woven tassels during a bad-tempered Everton/Manchester City game was priceless. Moyes is a tough Scot, who after initially winning a league title with Celtic, battled it out in the lower divisions of English football, as a player and manager, to learn his trade. Indeed the type of players Moyes has attracted to the club are embedded with the work ethic and spirit that he craves in his teams. However, it is this type of player, and more so the type of player Moyes attracts, that may stall Everton’s chances in the near future.
With the exception of Mikel Arteta, Louis Saha and Bilyaletdinov, Everton’s players seemingly have immediate instructions to work hard all over the pitch, to press, to close down. Moyes knows his team tends to do best when their backs are against the wall, when the media is writing them off and when their league position belies their quality. However, this attitude may not be helping Everton start seasons with the results the team’s quality can obviously achieve.
An argument can of course be made that Everton’s successful recent achievements are because of this mentality instilled by Moyes, and that in the current financial climate, with rival clubs getting richer all the time, Everton are over-achieving. Thus it is whether Everton fans want to continue as they are, fighting against bigger foes, against the odds and achieving highly respectable league positions, which may determine the future of Moyes as Everton boss.
Everton’s boardroom have showed little ambition to match the financial muscle of the current top clubs in England, thus are unlikely to attract the highest calibre of player that the Premier League is turning out more and more. A manager like Moyes is also more likely to attract respectable cast-offs than world superstars, which again isn’t too much of a bad thing as long as the results are in line with fans expectations.
Of course, things could be worse. Indeed if it wasn’t for last day of the season goals from Gareth Farrelly, Barry Horne and Graham Stuart over the last 16 years, Everton could still be a club playing its football outside of the top tier. In the future, the club could overspend and find itself in the lower echelons of the football league in years to come. The club is comfortable, the playing-staff is of a high quality, and the youth system continues to produce fine players capable of competing at a high level. It is simply whether Everton want to gamble for more, which may make or break the club as a force in forthcoming Premiership seasons.
Should Everton choose to replace Moyes, the club would be leaving their current contented position, and travelling into unknown territory. A high-profile foreign replacement has risks associated with poor stability, ‘dodgy’ imported foreigners and ‘dubious’ coaching staff, but get the right man in charge and you can attract players with winning attitudes, in particular players who won’t wait till the team is sitting in mid-table at Christmas before they get going. Indeed, investment is certainly needed to keep Everton as a reasonable force, but again some may argue that big-money backers, should they look in the direction of the Toffees, would prefer to see a more high-profile manager than Moyes at the helm anyway.
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