Sir David of Moyes

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its just a shame we have to recover if we started the season like this then we would be top 4 material

True, but we all know it was to do with the injuries crisis we were having, which up to now we still have alot of injured player, saying that things could have been different if we had more money to buy 2~3 more player in the summer.

If Pienaar wasn't out injure for 2 months things could have been different as well, probably expecting us to have at least 10 more points than now.

There are still 17 games left and 51 points available, we could still make something of it, but we must be getting result off Man Utd, Chelsea, RS, Villa, Spurs & City again.

Basically the number of points we gather at the end of February, would pretty much tell us what league position finish we could possibly aim for, coz the last 10/11 games are pretty easy apart from Villa & City, if we gather 40+ points comes last 10/11 games, we could be in for a surprise finish to a season.
 
Fulham losing today and Villa drawing is good for us. We can take Fulham, and Villa are probably the weakest link of the current top seven (they seem to have a history of fading).

Top 7 maybe?

Unlikely.

COYBB!!
 
Fulham losing today and Villa drawing is good for us. We can take Fulham, and Villa are probably the weakest link of the current top seven (they seem to have a history of fading).

Top 7 maybe?

Unlikely.

COYBB!!
Why not? Only separated by 10 point. They had a 12 point gap on us at one stage last season.

Think you should start a new Villa Appreciation thread. Went down well last season.lol;)
 

Its all about the gap lad, unbeaten in 7, its great that we can look up now.

It's the first time this season when I've felt a wee bit of excitement, Mik. The low point was Portugal. How bad was that?

The lads just need to keep it up. In a sense, there isn't a huge amount of pressure since the top 7 looks to be more or less obvious. But I'm sure all the supporters and the club have half an eye on a great comeback.
 

All sounds good:



EVERTON boss David Moyes approaches his 599th match as a manager at Wigan on Saturday believing he has gone soft in his old age.

Moyes, who will reach the big 600 in the Merseyside derby at Liverpool on February 6, has always had a reputation as a hard taskmaster, but reckons the current Everton squad get off lightly.
The Scot, 46, said: "Maybe I have changed a bit since I started out as a manager.

"I have matured and learned a lot. Maybe I have gone a little bit soft compared to what I was like at Preston in my previous job.

"The players and staff there will probably tell you I was a lot tougher and demanding when I was there."

He added: "I am a long way from the 1,000 club, 600 at the moment seems a very long time.

''But it is important to give young managers the chance to learn and to do the job well, and Everton have always been prepared to do that with me.

"My management style has changed, I am not so stern now. But you have to move with the times, although I am grateful for a chairman and board who understood what I was trying to do.

"One thing is that I have not lost my passion for the game. If I was not playing I would be trying to play for an amateur team on a Sunday, or supporting a club. Because I am a fan of the game more than anything."
 
Great quoting that, Neiler lid. Learning on the job and admitting it take note Roy Keanes of this world.

You've gotta be a harder ass in the Championship with average cloggers and learn your art there and then refine it or change it for the Premiership and it's stars or you end up losing the dressing room or playing good football with average players and being Tony Mowbury.

Irvine, could be argued is doing the Moyes way and if he does well at Weds should be considered next time we need it. Everton is now a place to be as a player with Moyes as your gaffa. Naughton might help us out more than his talent could have in the next few years.
 
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More from Moyesy:

“It’s frustrating we’ve had a setback this season,” he says. “I’ve always said I wanted a football club that keeps moving on. That’s part of the whole development, you get to the top and win things.

“But the injuries cost us, I never thought it could be this bad. And I also think the Joleon (Lescott) situation set us back. But it’s gone now and the injuries are clearing up so we have to look forward and get back on the track we were on.

“I think the football we are playing has got us back on the track we were on. Just the glimpses of having Mikel Arteta on the pitch have got people saying ‘look how much they’ve missed him, even when he just comes on it has changed the way things look and feel’.

“It’s been difficult. I think Steven Pienaar has helped carry the team at times, you’ve had Tim Cahill and Phil Neville with his leadership. Others like Leon Osman have stepped up to the plate.”

Such efforts, and the steady drip of returning first-team regulars, have helped Everton arrest their autumn decline and propel themselves towards the brink of the European qualification places.

That said, the surprise FA Cup exit last week prompted Moyes to remind his players there was now an increased competition for places and that he would not be afraid of wielding the axe.

His chastened charges duly responded with a comprehensive 2-0 home win against Sunderland, and head into today’s game at Wigan Athletic looking to extend an eight-match unbeaten Premier League run.
“There is certainly a much better feeling about how they are playing and I’m sure around the place they understand their jobs,” says Moyes.

“Before there was no competition – the idea that no matter how they played they would probably get picked again. Now they are looking over their shoulder and thinking ‘I wonder what the manager’s going to have to do?’.

“In truth I’ve had no decisions to make nearly all year because we’ve had to roughly just pick what’s been available to us and the players have had it too easy in that way.”

Of course Arteta, along with fellow returnee Victor Anichebe, remains some weeks away from rediscovering his peak fitness and best form.

And Moyes warns: “People are saying all the boys are back. But of the four out of the seven on the bench on Wednesday, I don’t think any could play 90 minutes at the moment.

“Does that make them back? They could maybe play 20 minutes or 30 minutes but that’s where I’m still coming into this busy period, especially with the European games, I need to get them up to speed.

“We don’t know exactly how Arteta will be when he’s back. We don’t know how Phil Jagielka will be. We are waiting on those together themselves completely ready.

“It’s how they gel with the others too. We’ve got some new players in the team and maybe we’ll find something else. Something that is better than what we’re doing. It could be to our benefit. But maybe they’ll upset the balance. You’ll never know until we get them back.”
Moyes reaches his 599th game as a manager this afternoon ahead of next week’s Merseyside derby at Anfield.

But despite such a lengthy spell in the hotseat, the Scot remains as passionate as ever to bring success to his team.

“I have always been driven wherever I’ve been, Preston or Everton,” he says. “But when I came here, Everton needed a turnaround and from the start we tried to become hard-working, industrious and hard to play against.

“From that I hope we have taken it on to the next level. Like a manager matures, a team matures, and we are in a period where we are trying to get to another level again.

“We’ve had to do that at a bargain basement level in the main. But that shows you what you can do, these players have shown that given the opportunity, they can step up to the mark.”
 

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