FAN ARTICLES

Looking for Progress

By Duncan Summers :  04/05/2007 :  Comments (13) :

I thought it would be worth taking a look back at Everton over the last 15 years or so to see if progress has been made under our previous managers and David Moyes.

Howard Kendall, Mark 2
For me things started to get bad for Everton when Howard Kendall?s second spell as Everton manager flopped. It was supposed to be the return of the great manager but unfortunately his second spell ended on a whimper as an Everton team including Cottee, Beardsley and Preki finished a poor 13th. In the decade leading up to this season, Everton had never finished outside the Top 10, this was the second Bottom 10 finish on the trot. Howard knew his time was up.

Mike Walker
The least said about the Mike Walker spell the better. He had done wonders with Norwich when Everton pinched him but never settled at Everton. He took over in January and his first transfers were Anders Limpar and the mighty Brett Angell. He followed that in the summer by spending a fortune on Vinny Samways and Daniel Amokachi. Walker was in charge for 16 games that season and lost 9 of them before getting the sack.

Joe Royle
The Royle era got off to a great start. I?ll never forget that derby match and Big Dunc?s header. Royle had a lot of work to do that first season after Walker?s awful start but he managed to steer Everton to safety and finished 15th. Amazingly after such an awful start to the season Everton won the FA Cup that season. That was back in the day when a team outside the ?Big 4? actually could win the FA Cup. In fact Everton remain to this day the last team outside the ?4? to win it. The following season brought our first European football since the ban had been lifted. Unfortunately Everton?s great European return was brought to an abrupt end when Feyenoord knocked them out of the Cup Winners Cup in the second round. That season Everton did finish 6th but it wasn?t good enough to get another season of European football. It would be a decade before the Toffee?s were seen in Europe again and it would be 7 years before Everton finished in the Top 10 again. The following season the Royle era finished on a whimper, struggling in the bottom half of the Premiership and denied the money to bring in Flo, Royle was forced out.

Howard Kendall, Mark 3
Somebody thought it would a good idea to bring back Kendall for a 3rd spell in charge, like maybe the disappointments of the 2nd spell were just a fluke. Some say the booze was getting the best of HK by then which probably explains why his summer was spent bringing in Everton legends John Oster, Tony Thomas, Danny Williamson, Mitch Ward, Carl Tiler, John O?Kane, Michael Madar and John Spencer. Only Thomas Myhre and Don Hutchison were worthwhile transfers for HK 3. Everton escaped relegation that season by scrapping a draw against Coventry. A complete mess which tarnishes the HK legend.

Walter Smith
You could argue that he was brought in to steady a sinking ship. He inherited an awful squad but immediately spent massively on Marco Matterazzi (never settled), John Collins (flop), Oliver Dacourt (never settled) and David Unsworth (not as good in his second spell). Walter did manage to bring some stability to Everton; during his spell they never really looked in danger of being relegated but they never managed to get into the Top 10 either. The Smith era saw Everton cement themselves as a lower mid-table side and Smith continued his quest to build a team with aging former stars (Gazza, Ginola, Hughes, Gough). After four years it was clear that Everton weren?t going anywhere, they were again struggling near the bottom of the table and the FA Cup defeat to Boro was the final straw. New boss Kenwright had seen enough and ended Walter?s reign of mediocrity.

David Moyes In his first season, Moyes was given 9 games to ensure Everton got away from a relegation scrap. His first game in charge was a win against Fulham. Another three wins were enough to ensure Moyes would start his first full campaign as Everton manager in the Premiership. In that first full season, Everton finished 7th and were unlucky not to qualify for Europe. The second season was disappointing;although never really involved in the relegation scrap Everton slumped to four straight end-of-season defeats and ended up finishing 17th. As a pattern emerged the following season was a truly amazing feat, EVERTON FINSIHED 4TH. They also qualified for the Champions League, the first Euro adventure for a decade.

Of course, as we all know, that Euro adventure ended in disaster, bad luck to be drawn against the very good Villarreal and even worst luck that the ?world?s best referee? disallowed Big Dunc?s perfectly good goal. The Euro disappointments were crushing and the players clearly suffered as did the league form, it was past Christmas before Moyes finally managed to raise spirits and get the team playing again. That season Everton finished 11th. It sounds disappointing but that was our 4th highest finish in 12 years. I don?t want to dwell much on this season because we all know that Everton are confirmed another Top 10 finish and almost certainly another Euro adventure. To finish I want to make some points:- Everton?s highest Premiership finishes are as followed:-

4th David Moyes (04/05)
6th Joe Royle (95/96)
7th David Moyes (02/03)
6th/7th David Moyes (06/07)
11th David Moyes (05/06)

The age of the squad has been lower. Moyes quickly got rid of the likes of Gazza/Ginola and immediately started bringing in younger players, Yobo, Cahill, Johnson, Arteta, Lescott, Hibbert, McFadden and Howard are all mid-20?s and with teenagers Vaughan and Anichebe the squad is now looking decidedly young. Moyes has also gotten the best out of Lee Carsley, very much an underrated gem for Everton and possibly Walter Smith?s best transfer.

Of course its not all been great under Moyes:- Some say the progress has not been quick enough and there is a case for this. One great season is normally followed by one disappointing season. Last season?s Euro campaign ended up being a major embarrassment. You could argue that Moyes didn?t try as hard as he should have to keep Wayne Rooney at Everton. The quality of football is not the School of Science we all want to see.

But overall I still maintain that progress has been made and will continue to be made.

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