Mr Consistency

Peter Laing 18/09/2007 18comments  |  Jump to last
Consistency: 'the condition of cohering or holding together and retaining form, solidity or firmness' ? Source:- dictionary.com.

It goes without saying that Everton are now considered by many in the media, including pundits, journalists and other commentator,s as a team who appear to be upwardly mobile. Many factors have undoubtedly contributed to the progress made in recent years from a Club seen as perennial relegation strugglers to one that is seen as Uefa Cup or top-six finishers.

In looking at the factors that have brought this stability it would be churlish to overlook the stewardship of David Moyes, this would include his man-management skills and his ability to bond a tight-knit squad and team spirit. It would appear that David Moyes is held in high esteem by his players as a mentor and by the custodians of the Club, who have given him a 6-year tenure in an industry that has become as volatile as the City when it comes to demanding success.

Money has been available to David Moyes in recent years and the Club has been bolstered by the committment of established stars such as Yobo, Cahill and Arteta in securing their long-term futures in the face of speculation and rumour-mongering. The positive vibe around the Club has also created expectancy on the terraces, around the fanbase, and (in the multimedia age of internet) on websites, chatrooms and forums.

Some would also argue rightly or wrongly that Moyes has assembled a side in recent years that is the most gifted and technically able since the glorious team of the mid-80s. Key personnel have been recruited that bode well, now and for the future; ageing legs have been replaced by youth with hunger and potential. Yakubu's acquisition, although raising eyebrows due to the transfer fee, sets a benchmark as to where the Club intends to be.

David Prentice, in this article in the Echoafter the defeat to Man United, summed up Everton's current position: a gulf still remains between the 'top four' but Everton have breached their perceived armoury with performances and victories in recent seasons to suggest that a more sustained challenge is not inconceivable.

This scenario brings me onto the gist of this post, the issue of consistency that is evidently still missing. It seems that when an opportunity presents itself to gauge our progress and in fact shows signs that we are able to kick on to the next level, we invariably seem to blow it. Many teams in and around us have strengthened; to me it's no suprise that the likes of Blackburn are able to demonstrate the same resilience required to frustrate the likes of Chelsea, and indeed ourselves at home. Awe-inspiring performances seem to be few and far between ? two or three a season ? when you think "Wow, why can't we play like that every week?"

From a personal perspective, I can see that the green shoots of recovery have undoubtedly grown; however, I remain to be convinced and honestly feel that we are still some way short of eventually blossoming. The key to being upwardly mobile is consistency, the task for Moyes and his charges is to demonstrate that coherence, retention of form, solidity and firmness become the currency around Goodison as the season unfolds.

Reader Comments

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Michael Kenrick
1   Posted 18/09/2007 at 21:29:33

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Good post, Peter. The lack of consistency is (at best) a pity... at worst, it is extremely frustrating. Yea, Rome wasn’t built in a day, (blah, blah...) but at the current rate of progress, that consistency will take another five or ten years to materialze. And five or ten years is an awful long time in football!
Tony Gee
2   Posted 18/09/2007 at 22:34:30

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the fella always carries himself with dignity, and will not suffer fools...
He has brought calm and stability to our great club since his arrival...

He has however, the tactical awareness of a retarded ferret..!!


And i?m afraid if we are ever to get our position back as Englands elite club, then this man will either have to learn the art of footballing tactics, or give way to somebody who does...

no offence Dave.....
AJ (London)
3   Posted 18/09/2007 at 22:47:53

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So, if we win, Moyes is tactically inept, so what happens when we win. A complete fluk?
Danny Mullally
4   Posted 18/09/2007 at 23:02:38

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Any great institutions need solid foundations. Cliche - yes, bt so true. We are now on foundations that can be truly built upon, and for the first time in many - many years we actually have a side on the pitch who we EXPECT to win. We wont be world beaters just yet, there are still areas on the pitch we need to address, but at least now I can count on one hand what and where needs addressing.
Off the pitch, although it pains me(as a no voter) to say it, we have entered advanced negotiations about the future home of our club and this is going to benefit the club financially, although it may cost us dearly in future support.
Basically, what I am trying to say is that we are balanced, stable and I may be a little over optimistic here but after 20 years in a coma, this Giant club might be waking up.
Steve Ryan
5   Posted 18/09/2007 at 23:30:59

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"Moyes has assembled a side in recent years that is the most gifted and technically able since the glorious team of the mid eighties" Sorry if I dont share your enthusiasm Peter however, the likes of Carsley, Neville, Hibbit, Anchebe, Jags, Stubbs and even Yobo are not technically gifted players. Without Arteta and Baines, I believe that we are in fact a technically poor team who are incapable of playing ’joined up’, expansive football.
Danny Mullally
6   Posted 19/09/2007 at 00:09:56

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Ste Ryan,

Rubbishing everyone in the Everton team apartfrom Arteta and Baines is a great way to show your support, keep it up lad, you should be fan of the fucking year. You say the side is devoid of technical ability, but it depends on what peoples perceptions of technical ability is. I think you meant Skilled rather than technical. The players you listed as "technically poor" I would disagree completely with bar one.
Technical ability in my eyes whether the player is effective doing the job. Carsley, Neville, Jags, Stubbs and Yobo are all very technically good at their jobs which is defending. You cannot point at any of the above and say they are technically shit defenders can you? I can say Stubbs distribution and pace is shite but I could also have said that about Paulo Maldini last year. We know there are limitations in areas of our squad, but what you have got to get into your head is that we are a very decent side, with an excellent team spirit and that should not be ignored.
Look at International football as an example, Germany from whatever generation you look at them only tend to have around 3-4 World Class players throughout the team with good players around them. Their team ethic no matter how shit the players are always seem to get them into latter stages of big events (Prime examples world Cup 2002, Euro 98, Italia 90)
and If we got even a bit of this philosophy we should be happy - not having sniping digs at the team we are meant to be supporting.
Jarrod Prosser
7   Posted 19/09/2007 at 02:40:01

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Stability is a huge part of the base upon which great things are built.

Moyes has provided that stability - as well as bringing in good players and not mortgageing the clubs future to do so.



Tactically, we do bypass the midfield. Not sure if this because Moyes doesn’t know anyother way, or if it’s because with no Graevesan & Cahill, we only have one real ’player’ of the ball in the middle four (bit parts like Osman & Pienaar aside).

Personally, i think Moyes is a great manager for our club at this moment. He may not be the man to get us to the top of the heap, but he certainly can take us further than where we currently sit.

A message to those that want Moyes out:

In a perfect world, we would have a perfect manager with perfect players. But our team & its manager are not perfect - however they are an excellent fit for the present & immediate future.

Let Moyes take us as far as he can. Once we don’t show any more progress, then let somebody else take charge.
Kev Prytherch
8   Posted 19/09/2007 at 09:30:40

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Contrary to this post, I reckon that we finished where we did last season largely due to consistency. Every team in our position expects the occasional slip up (ie Reading) but last season we seemed to be on the right road, getting results against the teams we should have been getting results against, and putting up able performances against those we should have.
If you compare us with teams in a similar position to us, Spurs, Newcastle, Blackburn etc. None of these teams have managed to sustain any level of consistency (maybe with the exception of Blackburn this season, although time will tell whether they sustain it)
If we want to consistently challenge for the top 4 then we do have to improve upon this level of consistency, however to suggest that Everton under Moyes are lacking consistency, I believe is an insult to the players who got us where we were last season and have got us off to a relatively decent start this season.
Otis Spunkmeyer
9   Posted 19/09/2007 at 11:19:49

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David Moyes has assembled a side worthy of finishing in the top 20 of the premier league and rightly we should deserve praise from the media, in 5 years he has produced Star players such as tony hibbert, leon osman and kevin kilbane who have all played there part for the club, what was a team fighting relegation is now a team fighting for prestige and honour, David Moyes will go down as Everton great for reviving the club that we all knew
Sir John Barnes III
10   Posted 19/09/2007 at 11:25:16

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I completely disagree with everything that has been said here and I believe it was Arthur Askey who invented the lamp post in the bright summer of 1387. Tony Hibbert and Paddy Boyle are faultless. Tony Yeboah should be are next sugning if hes not dead already. Meanwhile, David moyes is getting away with a lot without punishment, including fielding ELEVEN WHOLE PLAYERS!!! What a scumbag. Murrrrrrrgghhhhh zZzZzZzZzZzZzZ......ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZz sorry i fell asleep after watching re-runs of the 10 o?clock news with Ian Pearce and the brady bunch with a dose of saved by the bell. In conclusion Aggresive Alan is the way forward for this club if we want to complete our move to Southport and acheive our objective of getting relegated into the Rugby League by New Years Eve?s Eve IN A BIZZLE LAA IVE GOTA GO! MURGH!
Talk To Frank Robot
11   Posted 19/09/2007 at 11:36:41

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Hi! I?m the Talk To Fr4ank robot! If you have any queries about cannabis, just ask! ________ Haha! Turned of - MK
Otis Spunkmeyer
12   Posted 19/09/2007 at 11:54:14

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At the risk of coming across all Keith Wyness, I think Moyes is a "Plan A" manager. When Plan A works - great. When Plan A doesn’t, it’s difficult for him to change/re-organise. Ok, he’s limited by the players in his starting 11 and available subs, but if it’s obvious to 35,000 people that knocking aimless long balls forward against Blackburn isn’t working, why isn’t Moyes screaming at the back 4 to try and bring the ball out?
glen strachan
13   Posted 19/09/2007 at 16:32:59

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Tony Gee............

Exactly !

The problem is not one of consistency but lack of any signs of tactical awareness on the part of our coaches.

Jane Guest
14   Posted 19/09/2007 at 17:39:36

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Could you please not do that again. Its very annoying. I am not happy.
Steve Jones
15   Posted 19/09/2007 at 17:40:19

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Consistency?. Is this what we are now down to in order to cop a swipe at Moyes?.

Which one of the ’top 4 sides’ hasnt suffered inconsistency at some point over the last three seasons...ALL of them have had so-called ’blips’ at one time or other and ALL have suffered defeats that never should have happened.

I would challenge the author of the original post to stop looking for this mythical ’consistancy’ quality and look at the more important quality that exists at Goodison today and that is ’progress’.

After all it could be said that teams like Derby or Spurs have been consistent so far this term!. Think about it!.
DK
16   Posted 19/09/2007 at 19:22:50

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What ever !!!!!

Who, What, When, oh yea thats right.

Moyes, brilliant manager, he aint never gonna be the type of manager that attracts the flair type player, you need big time charlies to do that, like that stumpy genie bearded spaniard over the park there. But when he’s had enough then at least we’ll still have our honest down to earth boss.

Oh, and on the subject of technical players, comom how can you seriously say the chin that is Phil (the chopper) Nev has no technique, they way he skillfully hacks the legs out of the opposition every game is pure technique, I bet the lad could chip a marble out of 2 foot of rough onto the green at Wentworth.

Davey boy Jones
17   Posted 20/09/2007 at 03:39:59

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Moyes, go away, it’s all i’ve got to say.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Peter Laing
18   Posted 20/09/2007 at 09:21:04

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In response to Steve Jones regarding consistency how many times last season did Everton have the opportunity to consolidate their position for a EUFA Cup place only to blow it every given opportunity. If my memory serves me right we sweated right up until the second half against Portsmouth before the class of Mikkel Arteta and the atmosphere inside the stadium inspired the required victory. Again this season, although we were commendable against Man United a little more cutting edge, self belief and determination and they were there for the taking. It seems that when an opportunity to progress presents itself then we cannot unfortunately step up to the plate.
Chris Jones
19   Posted 20/09/2007 at 12:06:39

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At the risk of sounding like an Anfield flunkie I think we’re only one piece short of our jigsaw.

We have a good defence and with the likes of AJ, the Yak, Anichebe, Vaughan and McFadden we ought to be able to score goals if only ... we could acquire a midfield general from somewhere.

With someone of the calibre of a (spit) Gerrard, Lampard or Scholes we could be about there. Anyone got a little black book and £30 million?
dave t
20   Posted 20/09/2007 at 15:28:03

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the way i look at this club now is that other than kanchelskis and a couple of others there is nobody from the team 5-10 years ago that could get into the current team
THAT is progress
Kathy Connors
21   Posted 20/09/2007 at 16:47:54

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On a neutral, impartial view if mourinho was given the push at chelsea instead of quitting it just shows that no one is safe. The best manager they ever had an now hes gone. If for instance davey boy wins us two league titles, an fa cup and league cup and then draws two league games or struggles against some minnows in europe would he get the push. ridiculous. If tonight against metalist kharkiv we under achieve would that be the death knell of our "adequate" start to the seaason would kenwright look to someone else. Im glad that we were not taken over by some foriegn investors or some yank texan rustic oil billionare. Im happy with the manager. of course five years now without a sniff of trophies and twelve in total. Anybody who wants Mr Moyes out of goodison is either a spanner short of a toolset or they are under some illusion that they can do a better job. YES.We have not won anything under him as of yet, but what do you want? Mourinho in. yes hes a free agent now but lets not get carried away. With the stadium debate now seemingly finalised lets concentrate for the time being on bringing the team to its potential starting later tonight with the uefa cup game. a healthy lead at home to take to ukraine for the second leg. A seemingly straight forward trip to hillsborough in the league cup and a winning next few games in the league. All told, leave off moyes hes doing a more than adequate job with the money and facilities given and i for one am behind him four square. And lastly, i was pleased we never signed that "enter expletive here" Scholes in the close season. There was some far fetched talk of him coming to goodison. I was both glad that for one that he was not coming and that we did not sign him. Should have been sent off saturday but the "impartial, unbiased" referee saw fit that two bookable offences do not constitute to a sending off. Anyway enough of other clubs and their shite players lets get behind the lads and get his once great club moving forward in the right direction. Channel 5 tonight. 8 o clock. dont forget.


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