Missing out on Moyes will haunt Everton
Stubbs’ Toffees fear ahead of Hammers trip
DAVID MOYES is the last manager Everton want to be facing as their relegation crisis enters a pivotal week after the international break.
The prospect of Everton dropping outside the top flight for the first time since 1954 will become real should Frank Lampard’s side return empty-handed from their next two away days, against West Ham and then fellow-strugglers Burnley.
After that, Everton’s fixture list reads Manchester United, Leicester (twice), Liverpool and Chelsea — an extremely tough run-in for a team only three points above the relegation zone and accused of lacking ‘b ****** s’ by their manager after last weekend’s 4-0 FA Cup collapse at Crystal Palace.
The presence of Moyes in the opposition dug-out next Sunday will chasten Evertonians. He took the club into the top four and a cup final during 11 years at
Goodison Park.
Although, on several occasions, Moyes was keen to return, he was always overlooked.
When Farhad Moshiri appointed Carlo Ancelotti in December 2019, Moyes gave up waiting and went to West Ham, where he has made them top-six contenders and European quarter-finalists.
‘Not getting David Moyes back could come back to haunt them. I really do think that,’ says Alan Stubbs, an Everton fan as a boy who went on to play nearly 200 games for the club in two spells, including as Moyes’ vice-captain. ‘I think some of the board wanted him and some didn’t. It epitomised how decisions have been made at the club over the last few years.
‘There has been more than one opportunity to get David, but they were guilty of style over substance.
‘They’ve gone for a big name or the manager who was doing best at the time, rather than what the club needed. We’ve had managers who didn’t know what Everton was all about, and to be honest, I’m really worried now.
‘Relegation feels as close as the club has encountered. It is the most scared Everton fans have been.
‘We need something out of the Burnley game because I am not hopeful at West Ham. They resemble what we had at Everton under David. A real togetherness and players who can hurt teams. I wish that’s how Everton were now.’
Stubbs feels the Burnley squad is more suited to scrapping for results — something that makes their meeting with Everton on April 6 particularly intriguing. ‘Technically, Everton have better players but in terms of a relegation fight, Burnley are more equipped,’ Stubbs
said. ‘It is a concern because what you need to get out of trouble is desire, grit, mental strength, character.
‘As an Everton fan, I completely understood what Frank said after the Palace defeat. I had the same feeling about the performance.
‘Everton players need to show a lot more courage and I don’t think the supporters would disagree with the manager, who was frustrated.’
One encouraging sign for Everton is that in the 2003-2004 season they finished 17th under Moyes. Having survived then, the following season they jumped up to fourth in the Premier League.
Stubbs can’t see a repeat of that, and his first concern is to stay up. It’s touch and go and he views the game at Burnley as crucial.
‘I have been looking at the fixtures more than usual. I honestly think for Everton to stay up they can’t afford to get beat at West Ham and Burnley. The players have their destiny in their own hands.
‘From here, their reputations will either be enhanced or stained.’
To add to Everton’s pressures for their run-in, Andros Townsend has been ruled out for the rest of the season, joining Yerry Mina and Tom Davies on the long-term injury list, while midfielder Allan is suspended for the club’s reunion with Moyes.