EXCLUSIVE: Everton's chances of European qualification and David Moyes' management have been assessed by former Blues striker Jermaine Beckford
Everton's Scottish manager David Moyes applauds the fans following during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Burnley at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, north west England on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /
David Moyes has guided Everton into the fight for European football in his first full season back at the club(Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
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Everton have been backed to secure European qualification by their former striker Jermaine Beckford - who believes manager David Moyes is “brilliant.”
Beckford was a prolific lower division striker with Leeds United, recording goal returns of 20, 34 and 30 in his final three seasons at Elland Road before Moyes took a punt on him on a Bosman-style free transfer in the summer of 2010 when his contract expired at the Yorkshire club.
Although the Ealing-born player only had one full season on Merseyside, among his 10 goals were a derby strike against Liverpool at Anfield and a spectacular solo effort to beat Chelsea – the club he’d played for as a youngster – on a day that Carlo Ancelotti was sacked as visiting manager before departing Goodison Park.
Everton finished seventh in 2010/11, one of nine top-eight finishes under Moyes first time around. Although they were only one point off the relegation zone when the Glaswegian returned to the club in January last year, his team currently sit eighth in the Premier League table with nine matches to go this term and are in the mix for a place in Europe.
Beckford told the ECHO: “It’s a question that David Moyes will have been asking himself at the beginning of the season. Where can I see us finishing up?
“You look at how well Everton did as soon as he was re-appointed. We wondered whether he’d be able to get Everton back into the European spots.
“Based on the stats from the end of last season, after he came in, they’d have been top half. So, he’d have said to himself: ‘I’ve won a trophy at West Ham, I’ve got all of this experience in the Premier League doing the job for decades, do I think I think we can get into a European spot? Absolutely’.
“When you look at the run of results, especially the last two, I was at the Newcastle game and the performance was brilliant. The game for a neutral was fantastic, it was end-to-end but the Toffees ended up scoring a lot of goals, which is unlike them.
“He’s definitely going to be saying to the players: ‘Don’t get too excited. We are where we are for a reason, if we can maintain the form we’ve got now – away from home especially – and bring some more of what we saw against Burnley at Hill Dickinson Stadium, then why not?’
“If you look at how Liverpool played for their Premier League game at Wolves, who would have seen that coming? I still think there are a couple of twists and turns before now and the end of the season, so possibility-wise for a European place, absolutely, why not?”
The former Jamaica international believes much of the credit for Everton’s improvement must go to his ex-manager who has gone from being the youngest boss in the Premier League when he started with the Blues as a 38-year-old in 2002 to the division’s elder statesman now at 62.
Beckford, speaking via William Hill, said: “David Moyes is brilliant, he’s absolutely fantastic. You wouldn’t be in the job, at the top level for as long as he’s been if you’re not brilliant.
“I think there are lots of elements to his game that almost get overlooked and taken for granted, mainly because he’s been doing it for so long. Look at the stability defensively and the organisation, the hard graft, the work that he gets every single one of those players doing.
“He wants honesty first and foremost. If you give him honesty, he’ll turn you into something special.
“He’s managed at some fantastic football clubs: Everton obviously, but also Manchester United and West Ham – who as a football club are absolutely fantastic – not to mention his spell over in Spain with Real Sociedad where alongside Manchester United, I think he was a bit unfortunate.
“You don’t get looked at for those opportunities if you’re not special and he definitely is.”