Fans Comment
Dutch Schaeffer

A Question of Expectation!
19 April 2006

It seems to me, judging by the reactions posted in recent days to the ToffeeWeb Mailbag, that a big problem we have as fans is managing our expectations. Personally, I see Everton finishing this season in a mid-table position as a sign of continued progress under David Moyes, yet this view has been criticised by some.

We have all supported Everton through a very dark time. In case you have forgotten, here is a reminder.

In Joe Royle's last season as manager (1996-97), Everton finished 15th; Howard Kendall then returned for a season and Everton barely escaped relegation finishing 17th (thank you, Gareth Farrelly).

The Walter Smith era then began and lasted almost 4 years. Under Smith, Everton finished 14th, 13th & 16th. In March of the following season, Everton were 15th and staring at relegation when Smith was sacked. Moyes was brought in and immediately eased all relegation fears. Smith never once managed a Top 10 finish as Everton manager.

So lets recap: in the six years before Moyes took over, Everton had finished 15th, 17th, 14th, 13th, 16th and 15th. That's six consecutive seasons of bottom-half finishes. Not counting the final couple of months of Smith's last season, David Moyes has been in charge now for almost 4 seasons. Does anyone really expect Moyes to take a club that had not managed a Top 10 finish in six years and turn it into potential Champions within four years?

I think a fair expectation in that amount of time, given the limited transfer budget, would be to establish Everton as a Top 10 team. How has he done?

Under David Moyes, in his first full season (2002-03) in charge, Everton finished 7th � amazingly it was only the second time Everton had managed a Top 10 finish in the Premiership. They narrowly missed out on a Uefa Cup spot, while Moyes won his first Manager of the Year award.

The second season (2003-04) Everton struggled, flirted with relegation but were safe with six games to go. Unfortunately, Everton lost the last four games and finished 17th. It was a disappointing season but I think a big problem was that the team were being overshadowed by Wayne Rooney.

The following season (2004-05) a now Rooney-less Everton finished 4th and qualified for the Champions League. Moyes was Manager of the Year for the second time. I heard an interview with Martin Jol this week and he claimed that if Spurs finished 4th it would be a truely special thing. It would mean the world to Spurs � an amazing feat he called it.

I think we have forgotten what a magnificent achievement it was for Everton to finish 4th. It's almost impossible to believe.

That brings us to this season (2005-06) which has been disappointing. We had bad luck and drew Villarreal in the Champions League qualifier; as we all know, they now face Arsenal in the semi-final. The Villarreal defeat knocked the stuffing out of the players and an awful run of form followed. It looked for a while like Everton could get relegated. Moyes steadied the ship, though, and Everton were safe by early January.

It now looks as if Everton will finish in 11th to 13th position. And some fans feel that Moyes should be sacked. Lets say for argument's sake we finish 12th. I find it hard to believe that a 12th-place finish would be enough to turn the fans against Moyes. After all, Walter Smith's best season was a 13th finish.

Under Moyes, Everton have finished 15th, 7th, 17th, 4th and 12th (tbc). I fail to see how that is not progress. Two Top 10 finishes in 4 years. That has to be progress!

I know Moyes has his faults; he can be reluctant in the transfer market, he does stick with tried and tested players, and sometimes he can seem out of ideas � but we are moving in the right direction. In his four years in charge, Everton have improved.

March 2002: Middlesbrough 3-0 Everton. Walter Smith's last game in charge. I kid you not, his team that day included Simonsen, Unsworth, Gascoigne, Gemmill, Clarke, Linderoth, Blomqvist, Alexandersson, Radzinski, Moore and Chadwick. Apparently Pembridge and Nyarko were unavailable that day. Now imagine that collection of misfits, burnt-out veterans and not-good-enough youngsters attempting to play the current Everton side: the likes of Hibbert, Yobo, Valente, Neville, Arteta, Ferrari, Cahill, Osman and Beattie are a different class.

I see how some fans are frustrated but surely they cannot deny that progress has been made under Moyes. And, in my opinion, the progress is enough to justify keeping Moyes in charge for awhile longer.
Dutch Schaeffer


Responses:

I agree with a lot of what Dutch says here. Moyes is better than Kendall Mark II & III, he's better than Walker and Smith. I would like to have seen Royle given the support Moyes has had from the Board before making judgements there. And yes, finishing 7th, 17th 4th (and 11th/12th?) is progress compared to these managers.

I recognise only too well what an achievement 4th was last year. Keeping the same squad, a dip in form was inevitable, yet during this season there has been no sign of a plan b or of any strategy of playing differently. We've spent the season shuffling a small pack of cards hoping it comes good. Is that good management?

Here's my big beef with Moyes. Four years on, despite being constantly told how well off we are financially, we're still living week to week. I loved Moyes's early stated strategy of young, vibrant players. It's just not happening now. Everything is short-term. We have a thin squad in numbers and quality; yet there seems to be no transfer strategy, other than to buy players who are old and/or slow. This season has been a PR job, 'educating' us to believe that we're a crap club with no history, there are no strikers better than Beattie or McFadden, and that after spending �25 million it is great management to finish mid-table in a mediocre league.

At the moment the whole club is in a comfort zone. The Chairman is happy doing nothing with the train set; the manager knows enough people are happy whatever he does; the players know the squad is so small that they don't need to play well to keep their places.

I'd like to see Kenwright kick his own arse, kick Moyes's arse, and pass it down the line. I think it's reasonable to expect us to challenge for a Uefa Cup place. You only succeed by aiming at a higher level � too many Evertonians seem to be happy with what we did last year.

I hope Moyes sorts it out in the summer.
Paul Tran,  Kendal (19/4/06)

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