David Moyes has the quality to be in charge of a top-four club, but is the “magnificent” manager who fits Everton “like a glove”.
Ahead of Sunday’s historic first Merseyside Derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium, that’s the emphatic verdict of Everton superfan Dr David France. The Widnes-born former oil and gas executive sold his 10,000-item collection of Everton memorabilia to the club at a heavily discounted price so it could be kept for posterity while also founding the Everton Former Players’ Foundation to raise money for the physical and pastoral care of ex-professionals who have represented the club.
Moyes steered Everton to nine top-eight finishes during his first spell at Goodison Park, including their highest-ever Premier League position of fourth in 2004/05. The Blues were one point above the relegation zone at the halfway point of last season when he returned, but after guiding the team to safety with five matches to go, he is now overseeing their historic first campaign on the Mersey waterfront as the team currently sit eighth with six fixtures left to play.
Speaking on the Royal Blue podcast, Dr France told the ECHO: “I think we should salute David Moyes. I think his career at Everton has been magnificent in what he has done in his two periods.
“I think he maybe coloured his reputation in the way he left the first time around to Manchester United, but he fits Everton like a glove. When I see David Moyes talking about Everton, I’m very proud of him and what he says.
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“He’s eloquent, he’s serious, he’s obviously extremely knowledgeable and he’s a really nice guy. I don’t blame him taking the United job, but I wish that he’d come back to Everton earlier given what we had to go through.
“I consider him, alongside Carlo Ancelotti – and I’m not comparing him to Carlo Ancelotti – as a different class of manager.”
When it was pointed out that Moyes, who has already overtaken Everton’s most-successful manager Howard Kendall in terms of matches in charge, could overhaul the club’s longest-serving boss Harry Catterick next season, Dr France said: “His job has been much more difficult than those two. A sign of a good manager in any business is to make the most of the resources that you have.
“David Moyes does that. He’s always done that and when he was allowed to make the decisions in the transfer market, we got some quality players at often relatively modest prices.
“Whether that was him, or his team, the people that he brought on board were outstanding, given the resources he had. I’m a great fan of his.”
Dr David France speaks to ECHO Everton reporter Chris Beesley on the Royal Blue podcast
Dr David France speaks to ECHO Everton reporter Chris Beesley on the Royal Blue podcast
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The 77-year-old added: “When you have somebody like David Moyes, I don’t know if he’d get a job at one of the top-four clubs – I think he’s quality enough to do so – I think what you have with him is an understanding of the club, an understanding of the restrictions of the club, and hopefully he understands an identity for the club. By that I mean not just an identity on the pitch, we know how David Moyes plays and that won’t change very much, but as a club, we’ve got to be special.
“We’ve got to be special, even without winning trophies. We’ve got to package ourselves so people look at Everton and they say, 'That’s a special club'.
“We may not have the silverware in the way that our neighbours do, but we’re special in so many other ways and we are. I think the things that the club does, we need to repackage ourselves, and David Moyes is a good part of that when it comes to being a team leader.”