The vagaries of VAR did more than distort a football match this week.
David Moyes had marched into his post-match press conference, blood boiling and unable to conceal his contempt for modern officiating after Michael Keane’s red card for tugging the hair of the Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Tolu Arokodare. Confirmation on Friday morning that an appeal to an FA panel had been rejected did little to improve his mood.
There was a pithy one liner — “I was going to come in with a wig on,” he said — but as the Everton manager spoke, the angrier, and more exasperated, he became.
Yet those snapshots are at odds with the bigger picture. Sunday marks the first anniversary of Moyes’s second coming and, aside from some obvious frustrations, he has savoured every moment.
“I’ve loved the year coming back, I’ve got to say,” he said. “It’s been great for me. It has made me go again and I hope it’s been good for Everton as well.”
A Premier League table covering the 62-year-old’s 12 months at the helm reveals Everton to be sitting in tenth position having garnered 60 points from 40 matches. It is a picture far removed from the diet of relegation battles that had come to frame the club’s recent existence, though there is no time to bask in what has been undeniable progress.
Inconsistency remains inherent and scoring goals is an issue, but eradicating that was always going to take time — and money — given the squad he inherited languished in 15th place, one point above the drop zone.
The call to Moyes from Everton’s new owner, The Friedkin Group, came amid preparations for last season’s FA Cup third-round tie with Peterborough United. Sean Dyche was officially sacked on the day of the game — Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman took charge of the team — having become brow-beaten by the endless off-field tumult that had engulfed the club.
Other Premier League sides, including Leicester City and Wolves, had tried to convince Moyes to return to football’s coalface during the six months he was out of the game after the expiry of his contract at West Ham United. Everton had a special pull, however, with the 11 years Moyes spent in charge between 2002 and 2013 creating a bond he was keen to rekindle.
Moyes led West Ham to Conference League glory in 2023 and harbours European ambitions for Everton
MATTEO CIAMBELLI/DEFODI IMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES
He has found a club changed in so many ways, not least with their new, 52,000-capacity Hill Dickinson Stadium, but with some reassuring foundation stones still in place.
“I kept getting told by different people, ‘It’s not the same Everton, you’re not coming back to the same football club,’” he said. “So my hope was to get it back on the road of the old Everton.
“Actually, inside the building, boys such as Seamus [Coleman], Tarky [James Tarkowski], Jordan [Pickford], they’ve got what I would say is ‘good Everton’ in them.
“[It is] what Everton was like when players like Jags [Phil Jagielka] were here. A huge fighting spirit in them and trying not to roll over. And because of that, it’s made it a lot easier. They’ve been able to say, ‘Hey, by the way, we can get back to where we were before.’
“I hope that the year has looked like a progression. From avoiding relegation, moving on to big games at the [new] stadium, winning big games last season. We started this season really well. It is a good progression over the past 12 months.”
The manager, whose first stint began in 2002, says he was often told he was not “coming back to the same Everton” last year
PRESS ASSOCIATION
Moyes has described himself as being mellower these days (notwithstanding his fury over decisions against Wolves) though his backroom staff may disagree. To Alan Irvine, Billy McKinlay and Baines, Moyes remains just as intense. A workaholic who, when not hands-on in training, can often be found with the club’s analysts working on a new battle plan or keeping abreast of potential transfer targets.
He drives standards and harbours big ambitions for Everton, citing his experiences at West Ham, where he won the Europa Conference League in 2023, as evidence of what can be achieved.
Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Sunderland will test a squad that is depleted by injury, suspension and Africa Cup of Nations commitments. The competition provides an opportunity to end a 31-year wait for silverware, and with it a shortcut to European qualification, but there is an added incentive. The landlord at Moyes’s local pub, Steve, is a Sunderland fan.
“I’ve got tickets for him — it’s the only way I get free drink!” he said. “He’s a season ticket holder at Sunderland and they go to all the games. He sits just behind the away dugout at Sunderland. He was waving at me [when we were there]. I was giving him the two-finger salute!”
Moyes mentioned Dewsbury-Hall as among the key players who can take Everton forward
RICHARD MARTIN-ROBERTS – CAMERASPORT VIA GETTY IMAGES
Bringing success to Everton will be difficult but Moyes is keen to embrace that expectation. He did so at West Ham in winning their first major trophy for 43 years and wants to push the boundaries again.
“I want to see Everton’s young teams be really successful again,” he said. “I want them all challenging — under-18s or 21s — I want them winning European youth tournaments. I want so much behind the scenes at Everton to improve. But, at my end, I think it is us getting to a position where we realise what we need to do to be competitive.
“Last season was difficult as we had some PSR [Profit and Sustainability Rules] issues and we are only really just seeing the back of all that. What can we do going forward? How can we build the team? It would be wrong to name any clubs but I don’t think we have a world behind us where we can pay for whatever we like. But the new revenue streams from the stadium and all those bits will make a difference.
“I am hopeful we can take another building block and take it on top of what we have done this year. That would be another step in the right direction.
“European football was amazing for West Ham supporters who hadn’t been there. It will be amazing for Everton supporters when they get the chance to get back to Europe again.
The 62-year-old adds that “as long as I’m needed and as long I’m doing OK, I’ll keep going”
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER BRADLEY ORMESHER
“If you think about where Everton have been for the last few years, then it sounds like a big jump. But I want to be ambitious. I don’t want to be negative. Everton has had too much negativity over recent years.
“I want to champion a new stadium, a team with [Jack] Grealish, [Kiernan] Dewsbury-Hall, [Harrison] Armstrong, I want to try to be pushing the positives.”
Moyes is closing in on 1,200 games in management. Swapping that for retirement, and walks along the Fylde coast near to his home, does not appeal.
“I have another year to go here anyway after this season,” he added. “I’ve said many times, I’ll try and not outstay my welcome. But as long as I’m needed here, and as long as I’m doing OK, I’ll keep going.”
Everton v Sunderland
FA Cup third round
Saturday, 12.15pm
TV TNT Sports 5