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Thoughts from the Editor
History Repeating � A Preston Perspective
27 December 2005
Today, remarkably, we received these two contributions from a
couple of Preston North End fans who could not help but draw some
startling parallels between David Moyes, the current Everton manager,
and the David Moyes they both watched working his strangely
inconsistent magic at Deepdale:
It's all just a little bit of history
repeating
Things you could have discovered by probing(!) a Preston North End
fan before you came in for Moyes:
- If things start off badly in a game - he finds it impossible
to rectify the situtation. Every single person in the crowd knew
that if we went one down - we were in the shit.
- He would constantly scupper 'done deal' incoming transfers
with his dour personality. It's believed that the once prolific
striker, Nicky Forster, went to Reading instead of us for just
this reason.
- He hates flair players, or any kind of individualism. David
Healy, who has scored goals everywhere he's ever played -
including at international level - for reasons unknown to
everyone outside of Moyes's head - could not get a game. He
ended up going out on loan, begging publically in the paper for
someone to come in and buy him.
- He's incredibly indecisive in the transfer market. By the
time he's made up his mind about a player, it would have been in
the papers for months that he was interested. By this point,
other clubs have become aware and the price has increased
exponentially (Nugent!).
- He always pays over the odds for players. Always. This is
almost entirely due to the point above. PNE, despite selling all
of our best players, are still in the red after his final
spending spree, 4 years or so since he left.
- He's incredibly miserable - even when things are going well.
His interviews are like pulling teeth. "We have to do better".
I've got a tenner on you being in for Billy Davies before the end
of the season...
Jim William
Really makes you wonder how he can ever get things together
sufficiently to secure 4th- and 7th-place finishes, and win
Manager of the Year � not once, but twice! Maybe the answer
to that puzzle is he's a "manager's manager"... his rollercosater
ride is the biggest challenge for us right now. How far down do
you go on the dip?
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A Preston Perspective
As a PNE supporter, Moyes' record at Preston bears a few
interesting similarities with the 'progress' under his regime at
Goodison:
Moyes' inherited an underachieving squad at Preston and, as
with Everton, kept them up in his first season.
Second season, with limited additions in the summer, Preston
got off to a flat start, enjoyed a great spell around the middle
of the season, only to fall away badly at the end. Play-offs were
reached but we failed to reach the final.
Third season, again limited additions, Preston are promoted as
champions. Great season.
Fourth season, 4th place in what is now the Championship. However, the results show something interesting. Virtually all the
bottom-half clubs we have taken either 4 or 6 points off. However,
in 10 games against the other top 6 sides we have won 1 lost 11. Lose play-off final 3-0.
Fifth season, here is where Moyes leaves us. In the play-off
final, despite having been at the helm for 4 years, only TWO
players feature that have been signed by Moyes. Money has been
frittered away on the likes of Iain Anderson (�500k for an injury
prone, lazy waste of space - remind you of anyone?). The likes of Dobie, Crouch (!) and more have all been for trials under
Dithering Dave, but all joined clubs with a more decisive manager,
despite the chance of a crack at the Premiership under Moyes. By
this stage, Gary Peters's team was being asked to do too much, age
was catching up with them and they needed replacing.
Moyes failed to do this, failed to build on getting so close to
the Premiership and although he left us in 12th, our season was
incredibly frustrating. Frustrating because the opposition we had
crushed in the previous season we were letting get results against
us through an unbelievable number of crass individual errors, low
team spirit, uninspired tactics and a flawed, invisible transfer
policy.
Craig Brown won few admirers succeeding Moyes but his record in
the transfer market provided the nucleus of Billy Davies's push
for promotion that led us to the play-off final. The likes of Mawene, Nash, Fuller and Lewis signed for Brown
� aside from
Healy, the names of Moyes's successes fail to roll off the tongue.
It's best not to mention spats with the players like punching two
on a pre-season tour, then mishandling Jon Macken's transfer
request so spectacularly.
Preston did enjoy two great seasons under Moyes, playing
excellent football; however, this was never a team built by Moyes. Once we needed a little more than motivation and were no longer
the surprise package, Mr Moyes was found severely wanting. Despite
his success with us in the past, I don't think there's many North
End supporters that would have him back now.
As an outsider looking at Everton � and who has attended 4
matches this season at Goodison Park � I stood there in the
deafening pre-match atmosphere against Villarreal and thought
Everton were a club on the brink of greatness. �5M on Kr�ldrup,
�6M on Beattie, �4.5M on Wright, �3.5m on Valente, �1M on Kilbane,
�3.5M on Davies � any guesses why its all gone wrong, Davie?
Steve Johnson
�2005 ToffeeWeb
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