14 March 2012 marked an incredible 10 years in charge of Everton for manager David Moyes. It would appear somewhat ‘miraculous’ for managers to have lasted this long at some other Premier League clubs (in particular Chelsea). It has now reached a point where a replacement for Moyes would be hard to come by.
The majority of football pundits and fans alike would agree that one of the main reasons Moyes has been successful is down to his ability to get the best out of what he has – both with his players, and the limited transfer budget available to him. It is Moyes’s transfer activity throughout his Everton reign which I’d like to discuss.
Moyes opened his transfer account with Everton when he signed Joseph Yobo, a Nigerian international, in the summer of 2002 from Marseille. It’s pleasing to say that Moyes has made better signings than this one in recent years. For the large part, Yobo was a success with us, yet in the latter years his repeated loan spells abroad in Turkey condemned his desire to leave. Subsequently, his permanent transfer to Fenerbahçe was completed this year.
However, from my memory, I would say that there are a few more signings Moyes has made that have failed to make the impact they were expected to.
- Simon Davies was at Everton for just under 2 years, scoring 1 goal before moving to Fulham.
- Another one who didn’t live up to his transfer fee was James Beattie, a £6 million acquisition. We bought him on the back of a remarkable season for Southampton where he had netted 23 Premier League goals. The highest goal tally he reached with us was just 10. He now appears to have found ‘his level’ playing for League 2 team Accrington Stanley.
- Does the name ‘Li Tie’ ring any bells to you? After an initially successful loan spell, he signed with us permanently in the 2003-04 season. After that, he was constantly injured, only making 5 more appearances in 3 years at the club.
But, there are two transfers in particular which I feel could be contenders for the worst signing ever made in Premier League history. The first is Per Krøldrup. I would not blame you if you could not recollect this player. He was signed in June 2005 for roughly £5 million from Italian team Udinese. He did pick up an injury which kept him out of action for a few months, but after that he played his only ever game for Everton – a 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa in December 2005. In January 2006, he was shipped back to Italy to play for Fiorentina.
The second is the former Dutch international Andy van der Meyde. He joined us on the summer deadline day of the 2005-06 season. He is probably most memorable for his sending off in the Merseyside derby in March 2006 after coming off the bench. It is remarkable to think that he spent 4 years at Everton, only making 20 appearances with no goals. To make it worse, in Van der Meyde’s autobiography he revealed that he had done more than just sit on the bench during his Everton career. The book uncovered how he had become an alcoholic, had fallen out with Moyes, despised the captain Neville, and how he’d stolen drugs from the Everton club doctor. To rub salt in the wounds, he collected around £6.24 million in wages during his time at Everton.
But it is important to mention that most of the signings made by Moyes were a success. Some of his best signings include the likes of Mikel Arteta (£2M), Tim Cahill (£1.5M), Leighton Baines (£5M), Joleon Lescott (£4M), Marouane Fellaini (£12.9M – despite his heavy price) and the more recently acquired Nikica Jelavic (£5M) plus many others. You don’t need me to tell you how significant these players were/are to Everton. If any of you have any other suggested players, both good signings and bad, I’d be glad to hear from you in the comments below.
Reader Comments (43)
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2 Posted 02/12/2012 at 17:01:58
3 Posted 02/12/2012 at 16:47:34
Given the predicament of the club albeit with the golden goose of Rooney he inherited we needed 2 things - a youth policy like Southamptons or Ajax and bravery in the transfer market (wheeler dealing).
Rodwells transfer straddles both being an EFC product and his sale funding Gibbo, Kev and Jely. But he needs to do this with Felli, Baines etc till he replicates early days Wenger at Arsenal.
It's a tough ask of anyone and is probably why he won't sign another contract.
4 Posted 02/12/2012 at 17:17:03
5 Posted 02/12/2012 at 17:21:37
Our and Moyes's problem is that, because we make so few signings and have so little money in comparison to 75% of the clubs in the Premier League, every time we spend a lot and the player's return is questionable, there is sharp focus on it. Bily being the obvious example. Because we cannot carry players like Liverpool or Chelsea, every time we end up with a Bily or a Shandy it hits us harder.
His transfer successes far outweigh his failures though: Baines, Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar, Lescott, Jagielka, Coleman, Johnson, McFadden, Gibson...
You might wonder why I've gone with McFadden. In strict business terms, we sold him for 3 times what we paid for him. To me, that's good transfer business — whatever the player's faults when he played in blue.
6 Posted 02/12/2012 at 17:56:27
His purchases with the Rodwell money have produced his best team. If he's at all interested in breaking the glass ceiling, Kenwright should take a punt and back him in the January Sales.
7 Posted 02/12/2012 at 18:15:41
Worst : Beattie, Kroldrup, Bily, Davies, Shandy & Yakubu ( Bought for £11m -Sold for £1.5m )
8 Posted 02/12/2012 at 18:24:50
9 Posted 02/12/2012 at 17:23:12
Regarding Krøldrup, it was a failed signing whichever way you slice it but Moyes's record stacks up very favourably with this peers. You only have to look at the astronomical sums paid across the Park for players who have made no impact (Downing, Henderson, Carroll) to get an idea of just how well Moyes has done with very little room for error.
10 Posted 02/12/2012 at 20:08:00
And I maybe be bold enough say Fellaini also, even if it was £15 million.
11 Posted 02/12/2012 at 20:24:08
During his tenure I have heard people putting forward alternative suggestions ranging from Oneill,Coyle,Martinez,Rodgers(at Swansea)Lambert and many more. Yet none are fit to compare with Moyes, some of these other managers have had 1 good season, but Moyes does it season after season.
When people list his failures, maybe they should check Alex Fergusons failures, the fact is all managers for whatever reasons make mistakes. The acid test is do they let these mistakes effect the placing of the team and both Ferguson and Moyes have done well for their respective clubs despite the odd mistake in the transfer market. Also I think you should take into account how small a budget Moyes has had compared to Ferguson, if you cant buy the best because of lack of funds then maybe our man really has done remarkably well.
12 Posted 03/12/2012 at 01:29:06
I don't think you are being bold, just sensible. £15 million for initially seemed a bit much, but he has developed into a hell of a player.
To be fair to VDM, he did one thing right with his cross in the FA Cup against Liverpool
13 Posted 03/12/2012 at 01:40:08
At the time they were bought, you would think they were an absolute bargain. A guy who scored 23 goals last season for only £6 million, a proven Premier League player for a little lower than that, and an international winger for £2 million. Sounds good then.
Pity they were actually really crap for us — although Beattie had one good season, and Davies wasn't terrible, just really average.
14 Posted 03/12/2012 at 01:51:52
We will never know whether David Moyes would have made more expensive mistakes if we were a richer club but the signings of Veron at Manchester United, Torres at Chelsea and Carroll at Liverpool would take some beating!
And considering the transfer fees and wages at Manchester City then they have a poor return on their investment in terms of Champions League domination...
15 Posted 03/12/2012 at 06:13:45
I appreciate loyalty but when it works to the detriment of the team it's a trait which is counterproductive.
16 Posted 03/12/2012 at 13:26:49
Beattie scored some good goals and set up some corkers too. His problem was he was a pisshead, an ego, and an eater with a dodgy toe. He did give me a laugh though in close season when it was reported that he was arguing with a statue whilst pissed abroad.
Krøldrup... fuck knows what happened there, but he wasn't a bad player, which explains why he was playing in the Champions League the year after playing for us.
Li Tie was a decent player but was crocked with a double leg break. Never the same after that, he was a little lightweight before the break and definitely too wary after it.
Yakubu wasn't a bad buy, we qualified for Europe with him a few times, he did his usual, "I can't be arsed to play" routine after we stood by him being injured. Played great for a side who got relegated and then went off for a big payday in a joke league.
17 Posted 03/12/2012 at 14:15:57
Now Cahill, Arteta, Baines, Pienaar, Jelavic, Gibson (what a snip), Mirallas (so far) Lescott, Jagielka, Distin, Coleman, Neville — the list is endless. It shows you he's got an eye for a bargain alright!
You could include Fellaini when you think we're likely to get £25M+ for him. Rather makes a mockery of some clubs and their manager's spending. Yes, Kenneth, I'm thinking of you, son.
18 Posted 03/12/2012 at 14:33:31
I think you could look at any manager's transfer record and find a few howlers in there. Moyes is certainly not exempt from this, but I do think given the resources available he has done a very good job in general.
Best signings: Cahill, Arteta, Baines and Lescott
Worst: VDM, Billy, Beattie (I admit I thought it was a great signing at the time!) and Richard Wright (again I thought this was a great move!)
19 Posted 03/12/2012 at 14:50:41
If not then he was someone else's mistake and I apologise.
20 Posted 03/12/2012 at 14:57:14
I think you were right about Li Tie and Li Weifeng, who were forced on us. There were a couple of Thai lads who came later with the Chang deal but they were much more junior and I think perhaps sent back on the boat without even playing a game for the academy.
21 Posted 03/12/2012 at 16:48:21
5 to forget - Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Andy Van Der Meyde, James Beattie, Espen Baardsen, that Brazilian kid who would up on the Barnsley bench (see; I've already forgotten that one)!
I actually think we got more than our money back for Kroldrup, which makes him a worthwhile experiment gone wrong, rather than a bad signing. Also Richard Wright gave us 7 clean sheets in a row and was keeping Martyn out of the side initially. It was only injury that did for him, so I don't think that's a bad signing either.
22 Posted 03/12/2012 at 16:56:25
Another 5 to remember — Phil Neville, Steven Pienaar, Phil Jagielka, Mikel Arteta, Landon Donovan.
I think on balance the successes massively outweigh the failures!!
23 Posted 03/12/2012 at 18:10:43
24 Posted 04/12/2012 at 04:40:57
25 Posted 04/12/2012 at 07:19:55
He might have taken a small hit on some, but most have hardly got value stamped on them elsewhere, with the proceeds being re-invested on the better players in our current squad. Jags was paid for by Beattie and Naysmith etc.
26 Posted 05/12/2012 at 15:16:59
27 Posted 05/12/2012 at 16:04:31
Great professional and, considering the stick he was supposed to be getting at Sunderland, not a bad player at all. I remember Moyes saying its hard to warm to a 6-ft 1-in winger.
I've just remembered Brian McBride.
28 Posted 06/12/2012 at 09:02:26
29 Posted 06/12/2012 at 09:06:25
Just in time to gatecrash the gravy train before financial fairplay!
30 Posted 06/12/2012 at 19:27:06
31 Posted 06/12/2012 at 19:37:31
Whatever happened to that Rodrigo fella, didn't we pay over £1M quid for him???
32 Posted 06/12/2012 at 19:47:06
Moutinho, Riquelme, Yaya Toure, Arshavin, Manny Fernandes, Defour, Jo, Lucho Gonzalez,Obinna, Savage, Joe Hart, Bellamy, Emre, Parker, Agger, Forssell, David Dunn, Ramsey, Sean Davis, Sissoko...
33 Posted 06/12/2012 at 21:24:19
34 Posted 06/12/2012 at 21:33:40
I was also thinking how odd it is that business-men who have been 'friends' of EFC in the last few years, the likes of Terry Tesco, Robert Earl and Mr Green himself have received adverse publicity in recent years (deservedly so IMHO),
Evertonians in the business world or even those with a loose associaiton to the club are regularly highlighted for their alleged dubious financial practices whilst those businesses with links to clubs who claim to have half the world and its wife as 'fans' are never remotely mentioned in a similar fashion.
35 Posted 06/12/2012 at 21:50:11
36 Posted 06/12/2012 at 23:06:24
37 Posted 06/12/2012 at 22:59:23
Shows what a crap game it turned into after the Everton supporting coders had to change the game code so we couldn't win the Champions League every year!
I think Moyes didn't mind Li Tie – and Weifeng was brought along so he had someone to talk to!
38 Posted 06/12/2012 at 23:23:38
Of the newer buys, Mirallas at £4M plus looks like a deal as does Gibson. But Baines at £5M with his improvement year on year was an absolutely great buy.
39 Posted 07/12/2012 at 03:06:20
But he was used much more sparingly by David Moyes in the dreadful Season 2003-04, even well before that double leg-break while on international duty with China in February 2004. He never played for Everton again after that, despite staying on the books for another 2½ years. I think that's why, on balance, he would go down as a failure ultimately.
40 Posted 07/12/2012 at 05:14:21
41 Posted 07/12/2012 at 07:28:17
He has been linked with that Italian from Torino that I see clubs are after for £25m. I think he was after Hangerland as well. My point being that, other than Jo, his misses look pretty well researched. Joe Hart would have been pretty handy for £0.5m.
42 Posted 07/12/2012 at 09:31:15
If the guy wanted to write about Moyes’s transfer failures, he should have entitled the article differently and accordingly. Unless you happen to be a journalist, don’t give up your day job, Cal.
43 Posted 09/12/2012 at 10:10:52
He was a loan signing by Moyes, I cant remember the year, one of his earlier signings. He looked promising, Piennar esk, Then got a bad injury in training and never seen again. I think at the time he was on the fringes of the Brazilian squad and just missed out on the world cup.
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1 Posted 02/12/2012 at 16:14:55
All transfers are a risk, regardless of whether the player comes from half way round the world and speaks no English or is a Brit from 30 miles away, because they have to get use to different team mates, training, expectations etc. The example I always give is David Bentley; rave reviews for Blackburn, mooted as the England's right mid for years to come, then gets a move to Spurs who play attacking football and he's a Londoner so he's going home — ticked all the boxes, except he sunk without a trace. It wasn't because Bentley was a bad player or 'Arry a bad manager, it just didn't work out.
But getting back to transfer policy, all managers have brought in players that haven't worked, and I think Moyes is one of the more successful in the Prem. Can you imagine how he would've done with half of the money the Shite have squandered over the last five years.