Pat Nevin said David Moyes had 'manager written across his forehead' from an early age
Everton manager David Moyes during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Everton at Stadium of Light. Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images
Everton manager David Moyes during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Everton at Stadium of Light. Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images
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Pat Nevin has named the two managerial jobs he believes David Moyes ‘was made for’. The former Everton star rose through the ranks with the Blues boss at Celtic, the pair forming a relationship as teenagers as they fought their way into the professional game.
Nevin revealed Moyes is “absolutely loving” his second stint on Merseyside, a role that has allowed him to oversee Everton’s historic move from Goodison Park to Hill Dickinson Stadium.
If the circumstances had been right, there are two jobs he believes would have tempted Moyes. Nevin said: “It's purely about timing. There are two jobs that David Moyes was made for. I think Scotland was the second one, number two in the list, but the number one was Celtic.
“He and I came through Celtic together as kids, so we knew each other since I was 13 or 14.
“He's had 'manager' written across his forehead for his entire life. When he was 15, you could actually see it because he was captain, obviously, but coming through he was just that type.
“He just looked like somebody who should have been Celtic manager, but the timing has never been quite right.
“There were times when he would have taken it, I'm sure, absolutely, but Celtic had a manager in place who was doing well.
“And then the times when he wasn't available to do it himself, he would have taken it in a millisecond.
“It's just constant. There is a possibility at the end of the season [Scotland manager] Stevie Clarke will leave. He might end up at Celtic, you never know.
“If the timing's right, people will look at Moyes. But I don't think the timing will be right there again because Moyes is absolutely loving what he's doing at Everton right now.”
Moyes has a further 18 months left on his Blues contract and is currently committed to navigating an exciting, if complex, period in Everton’s history as the club looks to progress from years of turmoil to one pushing for Europe.
For Nevin, the sliding doors moments of careers in football are a source of fascination.
He told Casino Hawks: “It's like that in football. It's like that for players as well. I say to people, 'If you meet a footballer, ask them their alternative career,' right? An alternative career in the game.
“So I had this list of teams I played for, but what about the teams I turned down at the same time? It's a completely different list.
“Instead of the history I've got, I could have been from Clyde to Dundee United to Spurs, not Chelsea then Everton.
“You go all the way through the career and there's just loads of times like that it could have been. It's very, very strange.
“And that's the same with managers and that's the same with Moyes. And that's the reason why he's not going to Scotland, he's not Scotland manager yet.”