David Moyes' second Everton tenure kicks off with a familiar feeling as the Scot returns to Merseyside entrusted with leading Toffees into a new era, writes DOMINIC KING
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He has been here before, literally and metaphorically. ‘David Moyes, Everton manager,’ is a title with which he, and we, are well acquainted and the feelings he had 23 years ago will be just as familiar when he begins Act Two. When the call came in March 2002, Moyes — then aged 38, managing Preston and burning with intensity — did not hesitate to say yes to Bill Kenwright. He carried on from a scouting mission to see Nathan Ellington, a striker at Bristol Rovers, to meet Everton’s late chairman at his London home.
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There was no doubt in his mind, as he headed back up the M6, that Everton were the club for him, but the longer he drove through the early hours, one thought kept nagging, like a dull toothache — don’t be the man to take them down. Everton, as now, were 16th in the Premier League. Moyes, whose demeanour back then could easily be described as ‘glacial’, got a 2-1 win in his first game against Fulham and the tide began to turn.
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Over the next 11 years, Moyes — with an excellent backroom team and the unfailing support of Kenwright — did everything for Everton bar win a trophy. With a little luck in the 2009 FA Cup final against Chelsea, even that would have been achieved. You may think, then, that his re-appointment has been greeted with unanimous approval, like in 2002, but it is fair to say there is a section of fans who aren’t enthused by the prospect of a 61-year-old being asked to usher in a new era.
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