David Moyes' Everton return and the form of both Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry have all been discussed by Alan Smith
David Moyes has been hailed as “a great force” for Everton as he looks to revive the club’s fortunes in their historic first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium having departed Goodison Park, their home for the previous 133 years. The Glaswegian gaffer, who steered the Blues to nine top-eight finishes, including their highest-ever Premier League placing of fourth in 2004/05 during his first 11-year spell in charge, returned to the club in January when they were just one point above the drop zone having taken just 17 points in the first half of the 2024/25 season.
However, an upturn in form under Moyes saw Everton secure their top-flight status with five games to go and this term, following their 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest last time out, they have the biggest year-on-year points increase (12) from 12 months ago and sit seventh in the table having climbed to fifth last Saturday night.
Alan Smith, who won a brace of League Championships with Arsenal, plus the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup, has the utmost respect for the job the 62-year-old is doing.
Speaking courtesy of BestBettingSites.co.uk, Smith told the ECHO: “David has been around the block several times, and he’s doing a great job there.
“He’s the right man in the right place, I think. It’s a new era in the club’s history and last week Jack Grealish spoke about him, saying he absolutely loves him.
“It would be interesting if they could get hold of Grealish permanently. But David is a legend at Everton after the two spells he’s had, so he’s a great force for them.
“In term of what would be a good season for Everton? Well, just looking at the table, they got 48 points last season.
“He helped them get into a safe position. They’re halfway there now on 24, so, an increase on that 48 total is obviously an improvement.
“A European place, that’s probably just out of touch. But to be mid-table or just above, I think, would be a very good season for them.”
Smith, who like Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, started his career at Leicester City, has been impressed with how the 27-year-old has stepped up in recent weeks and out of team-mate Grealish’s shadow.
He said: “I was a big fan of his at Leicester and then at Chelsea, he kind of only got used in the European games, didn’t he?
“So, it was quite tough for him. But now we’re seeing his quality and his goal-getting ability as well.
“He’s got quite a few lately. So, that’s been great news for Everton.
“Having Grealish on that left side, and Dewsbury-Hall coming through. They’ve got more flair now.
“They’ve got more potential match winners, which Everton haven’t had for a good number of seasons.
“Fair play to David Moyes for getting the best out of Grealish. You can see he’s enjoying it and Dewsbury-Hall certainly is enjoying his football at the moment.”
Although centre-forward Smith would net double figures in his first five seasons at Highbury, including scoring returns of 23 and 22 in the First Division in his two title-winning campaigns, he endured a difficult start to his time in north London and endured a two-month barren spell without a goal, so he knows what Thierno Barry has been going through before he finally broke his duck in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
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He said: “Barry has come to a new league that’s clearly been tough for him; he’s raw, but he’s willing, and you can see he is popular with his team-mates and they were delighted for him when he got that goal, after going close before, with the one disallowed at Newcastle.
“Goals for strikers are the lifeblood, and they do wonders for your confidence. So, he will want to go on now and get another couple pretty quickly rather than thinking that one was an outlier.
“Beto is another option for Everton, but they’ve invested quite a bit of money in Barry, so they’ll be hoping that at 23, he comes good. He’s still learning, but they will be hoping he can develop.”