Whilst I would admit we are far from the finished article, who in their right mind back then thought great we have this new manager, he was in, what his 3rd year as a manager never played in the top flight apart from a few sporadic appearances at Celtic (hardly top flight) so he was completely unproven. But over time, and with a few astute buys, plus the odd donkey, see Krøldrup for one, I personally think he has transformed the team.

Yes he has made many mistakes during his tenure, but even Fergie and Wenger have. Whilst I don?t for one second think he is a world beater, not by any stretch, people must realise the Premier League is a different animal to the one it used to be, it isn?t a level playing field anymore. So considering the fact... that we are pissing in the wind in order to compete most of the time because Bill hasn?t the money (whether he is able to find a buyer, and prepared to sell for a reasonable sum, and give up his so called toy is another subject). So we are mortgaged to the hilt apparently. But, overall I prefer the safety-first approach to that of say Tottenham or Newcastle whom both have thrown shit loads of money at it and still remain part of the chasing pack.

Give the bloke a break he has done a GOOD job, something we were BEGGING for before he came and took over from Wally. I still think there is more to come from Moyes, given time and money. We know we can play football ? we did last season before injuries took hold, and it was attractive stuff too. I wish the nit picking would stop and just get behind the team FFS!

With time dictating there could be only one major signing in the summer, we may all have to cut back a little on our aspirations for this season ? personally I still say ?Tenth is Good? ? but whether he is paid £3.5M or £4M a year we can all be sure this Master Manager will earn his keep!

For £3.5 mill per year i expect the manager to produce a team that strings more than 5 passes together occassionally, a team that can defend their goal and not put the ball in the wrong end, a team that can mark the opposition and can win a trophy.

It?s a strange world were a guy who has never won a fucking thing in his life, never even been in the final of a tournament, and whose main claim to fame is finishing 20 points behind theChampions gets £3.5 million per year. I have posted here before that we have sacked managers that have performed better than Moyes.

My point is: On what he has achieved would not, say a 20% pay increase, have been a bloody good reward? We seem to be prepared to settle for mediocre football, safety-first tactics and being grateful not to be in a relegation battle. I respect Phil Neville and believe that he is a magnificent club captain but feel that the fact that he appears to be the first name on the team sheet says much about DM?s mind set.

I honestly believe that for £3.5 million a year we could bring in a manager who might actually excite a potential investor.

By the man?s admission, he knows nothing of pre-Premier Everton so his assertions can be given little validation. But for what it?s worth, I would place Catterick, Kendall, Royle and Lee all before the present incumbent and set his salary worth at about £2.5M a year. I wonder just where he would better that!

And please don?t go on about Cahill, he was a panic buy in last couple of hours on the last day of the window, and he only got him, because Crystal Palace wouldn?t pay the £25,000 agent's fee for him. He has struck lucky with Arteta, Peanuts, and the Yak, but on the whole for the money he has had, his return in the transfer market is pathetic.

As to the financial rewards that DM?s new contract will bring and whether it is warranted, the rational answer has to be NO on the basis that it is a hyperbolic amount of money. However, on the basis that today?s Premier League is based on excessive wages of the highest order then it is probably the going rate.

My question about DM would be this: IF (and it is a big IF) we did get the investment to enable us to compete at the top table for signings, would DM be able to engender the type of expansive, flowing, one-touch football that we would all like to see Everton play? Whilst I have tremendous respect for the man, I have my doubts.

Na, neither do I

What I don't understand is, only a few months ago he stated on Sky that it was a privilege to manage a club of Everton's stature. What I think has happened is his agent and himself have realised that they are in a position of full strength as regards bargaining for what they want because £3½M is better than giving a new manager £30M which they don't want to give. Plus the turmoil the club would be in on top of the total disarray the club is already in due to the total ineptitude of the people at the top. I dont know whether it's ineptitude or deliberate.

I would like to know why, going back to Johnson when he wanted to take EFC out of our city, Bill Kenwright came like a knight in shining armour to save us? And now he is doing exactly the same after taking out 12 loans against the club and all the lies about the Kings Dock money being in place. LIE. Fortress sports fund ? another LIE. Watch this and any other space - more LIES.

Moyes has lowered himself to that mans level by fighting for more money than he needs. I can only assume that the likes of Richard Dodd, Willo, Madden, Neil Pearse and others must have something personal to gain from continued backing for this LIAR, even after Knowsley council and other professional bodies have said the stadium is shite.

Getting back to Moyes, I think we should just accept he is what we have got and just support the lads on the park.

Look at the facts. We had a great season last season, given our resources. Given the budget he gets, he is pulling rabbits out of the hat getting us to finish above the likes of Spurs, Newcastle, West Ham, Pompey, Villa etc. in the league (which incidently is the most logical place to judge a team?s or their manager?s merits.

Yes we play too much hoofball. Yes he is a safety first manager. Show me a manager who doesn?t have limitations. No manager could have bettered his achievements in his time at Goodison, and for that reason he is worth his wages.

If we ever get back on a level playing field financially, that is the time to see if he can take us to the next level. Until then I will happily settle for Uefa Cup football.

So where do we go from there except to back the man and the lads on the park with noise. David Moyes is the right man for these times, but I don't think he will lead us back to the top. Also going back to there's always one of course. Let me assure you there's thousands who think exactly the same.

I give up with this clown.

I have been an Evertonian since my Dad first took me to Goodison when I was 7 in 1964. I have seen some brilliant seasons and some far from brilliant ones ? but taking everything into account, I would not call last seasons? efforts by our team "moderate success".

Perhaps we need to go back to March 2002 and see where Everton where in relation to the situation now and look at what has been achieved in the years since. European Competition seemed a long way off then in 2002 did it not?
I am not saying that all Moyes has done has been great ? but he gets things right more often than he gets them wrong. He has made some bad signings e.g. Krøldrup but these have been outnumbered by the good ones ? and I would go so far as to say that Tim Cahill is one of the best signings in Everton?s history.

I was not happy at our lack of activity in the transfer market in the summer ? it contrasted with 2007 when I seem to recall that Steven Pienaar ? a loan signing initially ? was signed in time to go on the pre-season trip to the USA. But was this lack of activity solely down to Moyes?

I feel some of the comments re the "Dithering Davey" label are wide of the mark. At times I have been frustrated at Moyes seeming to wait for something to happen before he makes a substitution e.g. last season?s semi vs Chelsea when he waited 'til Chelsea scored before bringing on Anichebe. However, what about at Hull on Sunday when Moyes made the changes at half time? Let?s give the guy some credit.

I think some of us have forgotten how much the odds went against us last season. Not just key decisions ? but the injuries we had. Watching the Stoke game on TV, a mate of mine commented about Cahill?s return wondering how Liverpool would do without Gerrard for 6 months? Or Man Utd without Ronaldo and Chelsea with Lampard injured for the same period of time? I am sure they would not be as effective. We achieved a great deal last season ? with one of our best players available for only 18 league games. Funny Moyes hasn?t made a great deal of that has he - still think he?s the wrong bloke to be our manager do you Michael?

I suppose if that ridiculous sum is the going rate, the answer must be yes although what our first manager to have earned £20k A YEAR - Harry Catterick - would say about it, god only knows!

Calculation of the percentage increase between those figures and the crazy salaries paid today would tax my mathematical ability but we can be fairly certain that in no other job has the going rate risen so astronomically!

I don?t share the view that Moyes is anything special ? he?s a good manipulator of Chairman and fans ? as I think O?Neill, Hughes, Redknapp and even Allardyce are his equal at least. But Evertonians will always make the excuse that he didn?t have funds to play with so he?s bomb-proof on his £4M a year!!

You refer to his being defensive against the "Top " 4, well he is not alone in doing that is he? And I think if you analysed ALL of our games against these teams during Moyes time at Everton, you would find that we haven?t been defensive all of the time.

I see that the name of Harry Catterick has cropped up in comparison. He was the first manager of Everton I remember. My Dad was very much a Johnny Carey man - and I have to say he seems to have been given very little credit given that he brought the likes of Roy Vernon,Tommy Ring and of course Alex Young to Goodison and he transformed Everton from a team firmly entrenched in the bottom 6 to one challenging for the top 6.It seems little changes over the years !!

I would be interested to see how Harry Catterick would have coped with the greater freedom of movement that today?s players have. I recall reading about Derek Temple finding out that whilst he was an Everton player a club was interested in signing him - but at the time Everton kept it quiet. I don?t think that would be possible today. Moyes not only has to be on the lookout for players to strenghen the squad, he also has to keep his best players at Goodison. Not always an easy task, if some of the richer clubs start " sniffing " around. Of the manager that you mentioned I would say only Martin O?Neil is better than Moyes - and not by much !! It will be interesting to see how Hughes does - as he has seemingly unlimited resources at his disposal.As regards Redknapp - yes he won the FA Cup and they beat Man Utd at Old Trafford on the way - but wasn?t that by " shutting up shop" and being defensive ?

With Harry Catterick we were in category one, with Royle we were in category two. With DM we are in category three. I accept that for some time he had little choice but I believe that this summer was an opportunity to move on which unfortunately wasn?t taken.

It?s impossible to postulate how other managers would have done in his circumstances and North Enders will tell you he is a far better manager here than he was at Preston! Norwich fans would say the same about O?Neill at Villa no doubt.

To me, he?s decidedly ordinary. Very little to ever get excited about and pragmatic in the extreme. In short,another Alan Curbishly who singularly failed to make an impression when he moved on.Is he worth the £4M ayear he?s hanging on for? Of course not. But if the lad can find a fool who?ll pay it ? good luck to him!