Chris Beesley looks at Everton's progress under David Moyes following Sean Dyche's return
As Everton tore apart Nottingham Forest 3-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium, the difference from 12 months ago was obvious. Sean Dyche made his Blues return and while the man who kept the club’s head above water in their darkest hour was rightly given a warm reception by home supporters for his efforts on Merseyside as he made his way into the ground from the team bus, what transpired on the field demonstrated the huge strides that have been made since his tenure.
As the third manager this season before the clocks even went back, the 54-year-old, who got Burnley to punch above their weight for almost a decade and was rewarded by having a pub named after him in the East Lancashire town, has steadied the ship at maritime magnate Evangelos Marinakis’ previously rudderless vessel that was sinking fast, just months after European qualification.
However, for a man who the East Midlands reporters say these days seemingly quotes Brian Clough at every press conference, his team don’t play like his mentor’s sides.
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‘Old Big ‘Ead’ as the legendary City Ground boss called himself, famously remarked: “If God had meant football to be played in the air, he’d have put grass in the sky,” so what would he make of Dyche’s Forest?
Cast your minds back to the corresponding fixture between Everton and Nottingham Forest last December – which proved to be Dyche’s final home game as Blues boss – when the hosts had just two shots on target and an expected goals (xG) of 0.64. A 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth – where David Moyes’ men of course secured a first Premier League win in their game prior to this – proved the last straw for new owners The Friedkin Group who would sack the Kettering-born gaffer who departed with 17 points at the Premier League season’s halfway point.
That tally was less than 50% of the figure accrued in 2022/23 when Everton posted the lowest equivalent points total in their history and avoided what would have been a first relegation in 72 years by a single Abdoulaye Doucoure goal on the final day. After Dyche’s ‘Great Escape’ then at home to the Cherries, and the subsequent showing in 2023/24 when the team would have finished level on points with 11th placed Brighton & Hove Albion had it not been for a brace of points deductions, some felt departing with him was foolhardy.
Ian Ladyman, football editor of the Daily Mail, proclaimed: “Everton have just opened the door to relegation,” but the truth is that it then slammed shut just 48 hours later when Moyes returned.
The Glaswegian, who dubbed the Blues “The People’s Club” when first appointed back in 2002 and steered them to nine top eight finishes, including a highest-ever Premier League placing of fourth in 2004/05, admitted he was concerned he might tarnish his legacy in coming back, but those fears have now been well and truly allayed.
Figures shared online on Sunday evening showed that Moyes’ men have the greatest year-on-year points swing after Premier League matchweek 15 with the numbers as follows: Everton +12; Manchester City +10; Arsenal +6; Crystal Palace +4; Tottenham Hotspur +4; Manchester United +3*; Bournemouth +2; Aston Villa 0; Fulham –1; West Ham United –2; Brighton & Hove Albion –3; Newcastle United –4; Chelsea –6; Brentford –6; Liverpool –10; Nottingham Forest –11; Wolverhampton Wanderers -14* (* Wolverhampton Wanderers host Manchester United on Monday night).
Moyes, who led the Blues to seventh in the first full season in charge of his first spell – only their second top half Premier League finish – a year after they came 15th is once more showing his ability to oversee a quick turnaround in fortunes. It would be unrealistic to expect Everton to maintain the giddy heights of fifth spot that they occupied on Saturday night, but given that in a Premier League table calculated from when the 62-year-old was re-appointed in January, they sit eighth, things are certainly moving in the right direction.
Fans can often lose their heads after a couple of bad results, but what about so-called ‘Artificial Intelligence?’ A so-called ‘Supercomputer’ cited by CasinoHawks, had Everton finishing this season in 17th place on 41 points as recent as October 27, but the same outlet on Monday now had their magnificent machine calculating the Blues will come eighth, above Newcastle United, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and their defending champions neighbours Liverpool, who in doing so they would condemn to a lowest position since they last won promotion under Bill Shankly back in 1962.
Perhaps this A.I. pundit is more susceptible to the whims of short-term fluctuations in form than logical forecasts than its creators might have us belief, but hopefully, wherever Moyes guides Everton to in this landmark season which marks the start of a bright new era for the club, loyal but long-suffering supporters can just enjoy the ride, looking upwards rather than over their shoulders like in so many recent campaigns.
As the wise old sage who has gone from being the Premier League’s youngest manager with the Blues to the division’s elder statesman remarked in his programme notes for the Nottingham Forest game: “There is no doubt we are only just starting to rebuild a new Everton team.
“One thing I will say about the players here is they have shown great unity. They have been enormously competitive and have tried to challenge so many teams this season and last.
“We are still at the start of our rebuilding process and during that spell it won’t always go right for us, but the one thing you can do is stand by those players and keep supporting them.
“We have enjoyed some great moments together recently and we’ll need your support throughout the season, even in the tougher moments.”