In a vocation that’s fraught with danger and plagued by a lack of security, there are perhaps few managers in the game that can lay claim to reaching the sort of crossroads that Everton’s David Moyes is currently approaching this season.
With the average tenure of a football manager plying their trade in England sitting at a paltry 1.7 years, this month marks a staggering 11 years since Moyes first took control at Goodison Park. And most notably, not a single game has been played at a level below the very highest within the land.
Yet with the much-publicized expiry of the former-Preston man’s contract this summer and currently no word upon the agreement of a new deal, there’s every chance that his 11th year in charge of the Toffee’s might also be his last.
Because while Moyes has served as a refreshing beacon of loyalty and longevity within a culture of shortsightedness, there is a feeling that we may be entering the final phase over what has been a hugely successful reign upon the blue half of Merseyside. Yet it’s within how you define the term success – or most certainly how the man himself perceives it – that you might find the answer to where his future lies.
Few managers within the game will ever rack up the sort of lifespan at one club that Moyes has managed at Everton and even fewer will be able to lay claim to having such a wealth of options at the end of their contract. Should he decide that he needs a new challenge, his achievements at Goodison Park have ensured there is plenty of interest both on these shores and further abroad – FC Schalke have been touted as one possible destination, should Moyes seek to take his managerial career overseas.
[post_link url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/arsenal/have-arsenal-failed-to-take-advantage-of-15-years-of-riches,https://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/liverpool/liverpool-star-reveals-he-nearly-quit-the-club,https://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/newcastle-united/newcastle-target-ligue-1-ace” target=”_blank” type=”tower”]
With his contract situation now having reached the point of expiry, should Moyes stall even further upon a new deal, we’ll soon learn what clubs are genuinely serious about looking to make a move for his services and those whose interest goes no further than simple speculation. Yet for as often as we’ve heard his name linked with the Manchester Uniteds and even in more recent times, the Arsenals of this world, you can’t help but feel that in reality such links are based more upon fantasy as opposed to genuine logic.
And with Sunderland now being the latest club linked with Moyes’ name, the Scot must surely ask himself whether change is right if simply for the sake of it.
The old proverb about the grass being greener on the other side has found itself adjoining Moyes’ name more than a few times over the last couple of months. In Everton, the Scot is at a huge Premier League club, steeped rich in history and primed for a sustained crack at a top six finish.
And in the likes of Marouane Fellaini, Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka amongst others, Moyes has amassed a terrific squad of players that are perhaps only one or two top class players away from a genuine push for what would be a game changing qualification for the Uefa Champions League – both on, and off the pitch.
But as well as stating that he believes this is the best Everton side he’s overseen during his 11-year reign this month, he’s also aware of how hard it’s going to be to keep this team together.
“I know what we have to work with and I know the boundaries of where we can go. I know the restraints that we’ve got at the football club,” he recently stated, giving an ominous reminder of the glass ceiling that Everton have arguably reached given the struggling resources that the club have at their disposal. Because far from adding to a squad in order to push on next season, the chances are Moyes is going to have to yet again face up to the reality of having to subtract some of the quality from his team.
Now after 11 years at Everton and not a single trophy to his name, while no man will ever be bigger than the football club, on a personal level, Moyes is perhaps correct to ponder what direction he next wishes to move onto. For as well as he’s done at the club, memories in this game are notoriously short and all it takes is one difficult season, and a potential move to a team like Schalke is all but history. With Everton set to narrowly miss out on Champions League football and his contract set to expire, Moyes’ stock will perhaps never be higher.
Of course, even if he was to theoretically move to Gelsenkirchen, Moyes still wouldn’t be taking over a team capable of challenging for a league title. But as one of the top 15 richest clubs in the world, with Champions League football beckoning and most poignantly a footballing culture that Moyes is yet to experience, a move to Schalke represents the sort of challenge that’s worth leaving Everton for.
Yet unless he receives an offer from a club of the same current standing or pedigree of the German club, what would Moyes really be achieving from a sporting perspective in moving anywhere else?
With the current five clubs in the country currently looking unlikely to crave his signature at the end of the season, leaving Everton for any other Premier League club would make a mockery of the notion of needing a new challenge. Because as admirable as reviving the fortunes of another club may be, in terms of pushing forward Moyes’ career, that option simply doesn’t resemble progression. And after all, isn’t that why he’d look to seek change in the first place?
