Ten years for Moyes, but how much longer will he stay?

Moyes will hope for more moments like this on Tuesday in the Merseyside derby

On March 14^th 2002 at Goodison Park, a 38-year-old Scot named David Moyes was unveiled to the media as the new manager of Everton Football Club. Presumably, Moyes himself could not have forseen the impact of the words he uttered that day. ‘I am joining the people’s football club’, he declared. Who would have thought that almost ten years later, those words still ring true to the majority of the blue half of Merseyside? Even more remarkably, who would have thought that the man who said them would still be in the job? The people, it is clear to see, love Moyes. For anyone unfamiliar with Everton or the workings of modern football in general, lasting ten years at one club must mean the manager is doing pretty well.

Indeed, Moyes has performed wonderfully at Everton for a decade and there are no signs that his performance at the helm is on the wane. Saturday evening saw an excellent 1-0 home win against Tottenham, to add to the scalps of Manchester City and Chelsea already taken this season. Results like these are nothing new to Moyes’s Everton. They have helped him guide the club to consistent top-half league finishes for several years, with perhaps his greatest achievement coming in 2005 when Everton ended the season in fourth place, displacing their great city rivals Liverpool and disrupting the ‘top four’ that had previously been thought of as ‘unbreakable’. Since then the club have finished inside the top eight in all but one season. An FA Cup final in 2009 was another highlight, and they have enjoyed several well-earned European journeys under the stern ginger Glaswegian. In the decade he has walked the corridors at Goodison, Everton fans will most likely tell you that they are in a much better state than they once were.

Moyes’s success has come against a backdrop of severe financial limitations. Many fans feel that a lack of new investment and a lack of transparency over club economics from owner and chairman Bill Kenwright has hindered the club’s progress. Still, it is a testament to his managerial abilities that Moyes has been able to operate in a manner that belies the restraints that have clearly prevented Everton from again becoming one of English football’s dominant forces. He has been astute in his recruitment of players season after season, with perhaps current skipper Phil Neville his most underrated and influential acquisition. Overseeing Everton’s academy has yielded fruit, too. Moyes professes that a certain Mr. Rooney is the most talented player he has ever seen at the club. Several other signings such as Tim Cahill, record signing Marouane Fellaini and the recently departed Mikel Arteta have helped endear Moyes to the supporters. Apart from Fellaini and very few others, Everton have been forced to spend small under a burden of debt and rely on offloading and loan signings to reform and bolster a squad that has also been extremely unfortunate with injury. Yet still Moyes has soldiered on and in 2012 Everton’s current 7-game unbeaten run sees them in ninth, just two points off the men in red across Stanley Park.

The question ‘what next?’ has been sounded many a time with regards to David Moyes. He has the unwavering support of Kenwright and the board – something that is refreshing to see in today’s game and one of the reasons he has been able to celebrate ten years in charge. However, with concerns over the club’s long-term ambitions and whispers of managerial movements elsewhere, it is not imprudent to suggest that Moyes may not be at Everton much longer. Many believe Moyes would fare expertly at a club who can provide the funds he likely craves. Moyes himself is a highly determined character and may see the lure of riches and potential trophies at other clubs too tempting to refuse. He has been touted as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor at Old Trafford, as well as being linked with the post at Chelsea and at Tottenham. But for now, what is clear is that Moyes loves the club, and the club and its people love him. What is also clear is that whatever happens in the near future, it will be a long time before the words ‘David Moyes’ and ‘Everton’ don’t fit snugly together in a sentence.

Give Pearce a Part-time Chance, We've Got Nothing to Lose

Last Wednesday’s friendly against Holland provided some interesting revelations about this current England team. For one, Fabio Capello’s work over the last few years has yielded little fruit, save for the necessary (and welcome) introduction of a new generation of players to take the mantle from the forever disappointing ‘old guard’ when it comes to the international scene. It was the under-21 coach Stuart Pearce who took charge in the 3-2 defeat last week and for the most part he was correct in fielding a youthful team to aid several players in their transition to the senior side. He was explicit in stating his motives: ‘It is disappointing but the object of the exercise was to learn.’ He would have learned that it is not a question of a lack of ability, but a lack of experience that is a problem, and will be for any side featuring players such as Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, Phil Jones, Fraizer Campbell or Chris Smalling. Even the older heads are not exactly used to the national setup – captain Scott Parker, at the age of 31, was earning just his 11th cap, and Gary Cahill his eighth. Until Arjen Robben’s last minute winner England had done well to fight back from two goals down, belying the relative inexperience of the squad in terms of collective caps.

Subsequently, the question was raised to Pearce about a summer job. He replied that he is available should the Football Association be unable to install a new manager before the upcoming European Championships. Since then, general secretary Alex Horne has revealed that the new man will not be appointed until near the end of this season. This would give a month, perhaps five weeks, for the new man to imprint his ideas upon those who will wear the white shirt in Ukraine against France on June 11^th. It is a meagre amount of time for any incoming boss to really get inside the heads of his players, for that is what is required if England are to succeed in any way. Pearce, however, knows his players extremely well, especially those whom he took to the 2009 under-21 Championship final. There is some pedigree there, despite what may be said about his managerial ability. Five years with the under-21s in an age where managers come and go as quickly as Lionel Messi is a sign of excellent loyalty to his country and it would be harsh not to allow him his shot at the big time.

Nobody is trying to convince anyone otherwise, but the side currently and bizarrely ranked fifth in the world by FIFA are not exactly favourites for this competition. The rejuvenated French, the youthful and efficient Germans and the love-in at the Spanish camp headed by Xavi and Iniesta are all well ahead of England in most ways. Were Don Fabio still in charge, that familiar national expectation that builds up the Three Lions to a footing akin to winning a World War would inevitably be astronomical. Were anyone new in charge (for example, a certain Mr. Redknapp of White Hart Lane, N17) that expectation increases several-fold, understandably but wrongly. With Pearce in charge, that expectation would certainly be diminished. This is not a bad thing. England might just be able to get on with the job of getting past France, Sweden and Ukraine without a public outpouring of anger, exasperation and eternal condemnation for their country’s footballers. Who knows where a good run in the group stage might lead?

Seeing as England are in all probability not going to win the Euros, let us spare the country the ‘build ‘em up high to knock ‘em down low’ mentality and give Pearce a chance to do what he can with a team that will need more than just the period between May and June to be moulded into a competitive force on the world stage. Another shake-up in terms of squad selection and possibly captaincy so close to a major tournament is going to do more harm than good. Psycho, as he became affectionately known, has missed penalties when it matters and therefore has something in common with several players. He might just impart some wisdom and that personal touch. He’s been there before as a player. He’s already there now as a manager.