Everton assistant-coach Alan Stubbs says it will be off-the-pitch decisions, not matches, that will ultimately decide where manager David Moyes ends up next season.
SOURCE: The Daily Mail
Everton’s surprising 2-0 win over top-flight title-holders Manchester City in the Premier League at Goodson Park on Saturday marked the day exactly 11 years previously that the Toffees’ head coach David Moyes had taken charge of his first-ever game with the Merseysiders, a 2-0 home victory over Fulham.
Certainly a lot of water has passed under the bridge in the intervening years for Moyes himself, the club’s long-suffering but loyal fans and their owner Bill Kenwright.
Of course, back in 2002 that Premier League showdown against the West Londoners was a match of huge significance, as for all intents and purposes it was a must-win relegation six pointer, and the blue-eyed Glaswegian could not have made a better start to his Everton career with that hugely significant win helping to propel the Merseysiders out of their relegation dogfight and away from safety.
And, barring one campaign when the club struggled badly and once again flittered with the drop, Everton have been nothing but a model of consistency in the top flight in the last 11 years, and on many an occasion they have punched markedly above their weight.
In fact, in the 2004/05 season they recorded their best-ever finish to a Premier League campaign by reaching fourth spot in the final standings, only to subsequently then lose their Champions League play-off to La Liga outfit Villarreal – with a highly questionable decision from refereeing legend Pierluigi Collina a critical factor in their exit.
But now the Scot has reached a real crossroads in his already outstanding managerial career, which is why Moyes has been stalling on whether or not to put pen to paper on a new rolling one-year contract at Goodison that has been on the table since January.
As Stubbs alluded to in his interview, Moyes wants assurances over the future direction of the club, which in layman’s terms means guarantees over how much cash he will have to splash in the transfer market this summer.
Moyes knows he has taken the club as far as he can on a shoestring budget and now, quite reasonably, either Kenwright backs him financially, or he will try a new challenge elsewhere next season.
COMMENTS