David Moyes speaks at today's Everton press conference at Finch Farm
David Moyes speaks at today's Everton press conference at Finch Farm
David Moyes claimed he cannot “turn water into wine”. But maybe he is understating his powers.
Moyes has already worked miracles at Finch Farm and Goodison Park in a sensational spell that has seen Everton move to the cusp of Premier League survival with months of the season left.
Few would have believed such a transformation possible after a miserable start to 2025 that began with the trip to Bournemouth in which Everton fell to defeat without mustering a shot on target.
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Sean Dyche left days later with the Blues perilously close to the bottom three.
Throw in the horrendous run of injuries that followed - many to senior players who were central to the first team - and the future looked challenging even if Moyes’ return was a catalyst for hope of better things to come.
Moyes conceded in his press conference on Friday that he too had been surprised by the form that followed - an initial defeat to Aston Villa before the club’s longest unbeaten league run since 2017.
Speaking ahead of the trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers, the 61-year-old continued his reluctance to entertain Everton may already be safe, however.
In one of the more predictable features of the return of the press to Halewood after the break that followed the draw at Brentford, Moyes still exercised caution. With the Blues now 15 points clear, plenty of others are happy to start looking ahead to next season and that is something that feels alien after three years of fretting deep into April.
The positivity is surging through supporters at the moment and it is visible at Finch Farm too. While Moyes will not countenance the idea that Everton are safe yet, the atmosphere at the training ground is as relaxed as it has ever been in recent years.
That feeling was reinforced by the tans visible among the contingent of support staff who joined the players on the warm weather camp to Abu Dhabi that followed the Brentford match.
Even something like that was mined with jeopardy under previous regimes - it is roughly 12 months ago Dyche took his squad to Portugal on a trip intended to ease the pressure on the group but which instead ended with a fracas involving the manager and Nathan Patterson.
Patterson came up in conversation on Friday and Moyes sought to impress that he hoped to work with him properly over the coming weeks, the defender having been hit by injuries since Moyes’ appointment in January. Like with Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom, Moyes called for him to step up but in such a positive manner that the players should be able to trust they will get chances - and rewards if he answers their call.
And therein lies some of the contrast between now and the past. All of a sudden Everton do not feel like a club lurching between crises on and off the pitch.
After the drama of recent years that does feel a miracle. So after the final whistle at Molineux, maybe it is worth Moyes casting his hands over a jug of water and seeing whether he can conjure up some more magic.