Back on an Even Keel – Everton Enter 2026 in Calmer Waters

Indeed Lyndon,
I think Moyes has done a remarkable job so far with what he’s had at his disposal, when you look back to when he took over last January to now the difference is massive, back then we had the likes of Lindstrom, Broja, Ashley Young and Doucoure who couldn’t pass gas let alone a football yet somehow Moyes got a tune out of them and we avoided relegation with relative ease.

Has it been changes in huge leaps or small increments? Depends how you look at it, for me the changes have been quite radical, now we have better players of course, players who Moyes wanted like Grealish and Dewsbury Hall, those two players alone bring a whole different brand of football and mentality to the club,

There will be ups and downs this season as a small squad gets pushed to its limits and I’m sure Moyes will continue to have us scratching our heads from time to time, however the state we are in now is a far cry from when he first took over,
Under his leadership since he joined we have amassed 59 points in 38 games, not bad at all under the precarious circumstances.

We have an experienced manager, one I’m hoping will lead us into this new era with new ideas and a sense of innovation as this modern game requires.

I was just thinking yesterday about it must be about nearly a year since Dyche told the Friedkins that was the limit of that squad. Just about missing relegation was the very best we could hope for. Roll on one year.
Hands up anyone who thought Moyes would come back and get us to where we are now? I didn’t.

You cannot deny David Moyes has done a great job in the last 12 months, 59 points from 38 games is Europe, thank you David you really have stabilised and got a tune out of this rather unbalanced squad, can you now kick on and win us the FA Cup?… please, it might mean taking a chance now and then, but beating Sunderland and then kicking on would go a long way to galvanising this fanbase, David Moyes could end up a legend here.

Just over 12 months ago my partner and I were sat in the kitchen having breakfast and she asked me if I was looking forward to going to the match that afternoon. We were at home to Forest, the game that turned out to be Dyche's last home game in charge of our club.

I replied, "no, not really". And when she asked if I was ill or something, I simply said that I was only going out of a sense of loyalty as I knew we were going to be absolutely crap! And I was right.

The difference in less than 12 months has been astonishing, even though we've lost a few, as I now look forward to every game. We have some very good new players, and a tremendous stadium which I've grown to love very quickly. Despite the lengthy walk to and from the car.

The last few years really took it out of me, I wasn't sure how much more I could take but we got through it. Just.

This season feels like a Free Hit with nothing to worry about, we can just concentrate on enjoying watching our team again. I've loved almost every second of it...almost.

We'll be back in Europe soon enough.

I must admit,I wasn’t entirely convinced about David Moyes returning as manager, and I still think he can be overly cautious in his approach.But credit where it’s due, he got far more out of the players in the second half of last season than Dyche would have.He’s definitely steadied the ship and steered us into far calmer waters.I sometimes look at West Ham and their current situation.They’ve been an absolute mess since Moyes left, and are now in real danger of relegation.I wonder how many of their fans are sorry he left?
But as Lyndon says in his article, there’s generally a much better, more positive “feel” about the club now.Obviously the excitement of moving to the new stadium has figured massively in that, despite the obvious issues that some fans have had in regard to certain things…travel, food and drink prices etc.But for the first time in many years, I personally now feel that the club is being run in a proper, sensible fashion, and we appear to making slow but steady steps in the right direction.And after all the chaos and confusion of recent seasons in particular, I’ll gladly take that.

Great article Lyndon, but I find myself disagreeing with a lot of it. This 'steady hand, with a bit of luck' narrative which has with a favourably congested table left us looking at the euro spots is in my view damning with faint praise.

I have a very clear recollection of the state of the club when Moyes took over, and went on a tour of Finch Farm, cheering everyone up. We were at a very low ebb, but his impact was immediate. Not only that, the squad was in a critically bad condition, which meant we had to spend £60m just to stand still in the summer, in replacing Doucs and DCL who left for nowt but were v important members of the team. Any 'investment' in the summer went on youngsters, who will prove their worth over the years but not during this season.

To my mind then, we've hardly managed yet to invest in the team from last year, what with the financial limits upon us, and within that, Moyes has managed a remarkable number of feats. The Grealish loan (excellent), KDH (signing of the year?), Keane and Garner in the form of their careers.

I would also point out we don't play 442, so to say our two strikers have managed three goals between them is slightly misleading. Actually Barry has started 11 times, and if you count his unfairly disallowed goals (which I do) he's averaging a goal every 3 games. Not bad. and a lot more to come.

We are still settling into the new ground, but also just look at our away record. If we get our home form to match our away form we are literally making a title bid. Nobody's got a better win record away than us. Remarkable, and that's how I would describe the last 12 months.

Sustainable, meaningful change takes time and often appears quite dull. Foundations have to be laid, good habits need to start, then become embedded.

We now appear to be run like a normal, functional business.

I'm not particularly interested in them swanning round Hill Dickinson & Finch Farm 'showing that they care'. Their ownership will rest on their recruitment of senior staff, football staff, players and the results they bring. For me, next summer will be the first test of the recruitment team and how the Friedkins want to move on from steadying the ship.

All in all, a good year. Let's see if we build on it in 2026!

Excellent article as always Lyndon and one that reads better after our win at Forest that propelled us to 8th place and 2 points off 5th place.

A loss to Forest following a turgid display against Burnley and our glass might not have been half full.

However, we are 8th and if results go our way after the next two rounds we will be in even better shape.
As you say it’s a congested league this season so we may be flattering to deceive but let’s enjoy the ride.

As Lee @4 said, it’s been pretty much torture going to the games for the last four seasons and as much as I celebrated the last ditch wins over Palace and Bournemouth to stay in the league, I always felt I was celebrating for the wrong reasons.

This season I too am enjoying going to the match again and that is down to Moyes although he can frustrate us at times.

We are on the up and there is plenty to look forward to.

A very good article Lyndon, writing about the positive direction that Everton, have taken since David Moyes returned.

No point going over old ground but we have been a mid table team for the last two seasons, except for a points deduction, and also a fine upturn in form, once we had replaced Dyche, who had been worn down by the club, and had started wearing down every Evertonian, best articulated by Lee’s opening paragraphs@4.

I was very worried at the beginning of this season, with the very slow pace of our recruitment, but one thing about David Moyes, and difficult circumstances, is that he always faces adversity head-on, imo.

His problem has always been integrating more of his squad into the team on a regular basis (arguments will continue that it’s always been because he’s never had the strongest squad) so my wish for the second half of this season, is for the manager to have more faith and start managing what I believe to be his biggest weakness.

Like the headline says, Moyes has got us back on an even keel, so hopefully he can grow into the man, who finally gives every single Evertonian, something we all desperately crave.

Give us a cup David, watch the explosion, and I’m certain it will give you and your players, both the belief and the desire, to go and achieve a lot more.

They were perhaps the right decisions at the time, but imagine if we'd kept even one of DCL and Ashley Young. A moderately more effective striker or a proper natural RB would surely have turned at least one draw into a win.

But that's hindsight. Aside from some selection head scratchers Moyes has done very well. And given the squad I think my only real problem with the selection has been leaving Dibling out so much.

An FA Cup run would really be nice. If we can get past Sunderland and start getting all the squad back and up to full strength who knows.

A well written article, as ever, Lyndon.

The FA Cup is the route I want us to take to European football. On Tuesday, I stood at Forest next to my grandson aged 11. The last time I stood at that ground was in 1967 for an FA Cup quarter final, when I was 11.

By that age, I had been to Wembley to see us lift the Cup. My son did the same when he was 13 in 1995. These occasions provided feelings and memories to this day. They are what kids need. They are what our Club needs.

Am I getting ahead of ourselves? Yes. And that’s what is needed. Someone to say “We can do this”. It was a feeling that pervaded the match on Tuesday.

When David Moyes brought the team to the fans after the match he looked genuinely jubilant. Can he bring himself to have a proper go? We will get a hint when he selects his team for the Sunderland game - if he picks a second stream goalie, to me he will be sending out the message that the cup-tie is not as important as a league game.

Antony#9 refers to an “explosion” should we win a cup. It would be on a scale of Vesuvius.

For the first time in a long time, I’m reading and also listening to people talking about Everton, winning the cup.

Looking at the Chinese calendar, I always look to see what animal is going to represent the following year, just to see if I can find an Everton connection, like we did all those years ago in 1984, which was the year of THE RAT.

It’s the horse this year, which didn’t fill me with much confidence, until I dug a little bit deeper and found out there are five different types of horse in the calendar.

2026, is the year of the fire horse, and the last time this happened, was in 1966,when Everton won the cup!

So, does that indicate that England will win the World Cup too, Antony?

Great article Lyndon. It is great to read a balanced view that does not encourage tribal pro and anti opinions that inevitably end up with a squabble between folk that is carried on for weeks, and in some cases, years.

Moyes has done much better than I expected and I am hopeful of steady progress over next 2 season.

I don't expect headlines this transfer window but optimistic about second half of season

In other words, Happy New Year!

I think they’ve got a good chance Dennis, and I’d even take the treble from all those years ago, just to see Everton win again mate.

Kevin, Moyes has indeed done a very good job and when I say that we are where we are because of the nature of the table, I do so partly in the context of a squad that is still in the building phase and, as I mentioned in the piece, hampered by some key missing pieces.

I stand by the strikers being part of that and, where Barry is concerned, it shouldn't be read as criticism because he is still relatively young and adapting to a new country and league. I'd also add to your stat by saying that you can count the number of genuine changes that he's missed on one hand.

And that speaks to the other issue which is that we still don't have a consistently effective way of playing though teams, creating chances and supporting the strikers. We have been a little too reliant on individuals at times even while we've also benefitted from some brilliant team efforts as well.

Part of that rests with Moyes and his ability as a coach, part of it with the recruitment that still needs to be done to round the team out.

I agree with the view that Moyes has done a good job of steadying our ship over the past 12 months, but I still view his appointment as a mere stop gap one until we can soon find a manager who can take us to the next level and properly challenge for a European place.

I don't believe Moyes can take us there. He can set up a team to disrupt other teams and nick wins here and there, but I haven't seen too many performances under his charge where we dominate teams and control the majority of the game. We really need a recruitment team to find a manager who can develop a midfield that controls possession and creates lots of chances. I just don't see Moyes as having the ability to do that.

Full credit to him for doing what he does best, but I'm not a convert of his style and I think we need some ruthlessness in the board room to pursue a recruitment strategy of both players and a manager to take us beyond just mediocrity in the Prem.

Moyes has done an excellent job with a not so excellent squad. There are some matches coming up that we should be very competitive in.

Going off subject. Has anybody heard/read anything about the change from gambling ads on the kits…or more to the point, our change from Stake to whatever?

A belated HNY 2026, to all on Evertonia, and lets hope its a good one for everyone.

What an epic displau and win v Forest, hopefully the same effort and application v Brentford.

A rare event I won £2.80 for x2 numbers last night nion the lotto. But hopefully Everton's fortunes are slowly turning in the right direction.

Focusing on the good things and Everton, can take the win tomorrow its setting up for a positive start to 2026!

Great to have Sunderland at home and a feeling of old fashioned FA Cup games, pity its not a 3 p.m. K O.

But a great opportunity, and as a few people have researched, 1966, was a great year for Everton!

Spot on Lyndon.

We've made significant strides under Moyes in a relatively short time. He is not the long term solution, but I tip my blue bobble hat to him for making match day enjoyable again.

I doubt this window will bring much, but please, get Jimmy Garner signed up soon. He really runs the show now and this won't go unnoticed by clubs with big pockets. And I'm not talking clowns. Hopefully Jimmy will know that he's a guaranteed starter with us and won't be tempted away.

As much as I want a new striker, let's not waste a ton of money on another possible. If necessary, wait until the summer and get a well researched probable.

Beat Brentford and Wolves and things really are looking positive. And please, put our best team out in the cup.

HNY. COYB.

Two Comments
Lyndon great article and totally agree with your comments on 16 where I interpret and agree that much of our comments on our strikers is that they are getting very few clear cut chances. We have players out wide who are very good on the ball but by the time they look for a pass to our strikers, the opposition defences is well set up.
Craig 17, I accepted Moyes back when Dyche lost the dressing room because he was the only available experienced option at the time. However those who find it hard to accept Moyes have advocated that we should be looking at modern managers. Those in that camp have suggested Maresca, Frank, IrIola, Glasner even Nuno and we can see how they are doing. Be careful for what we wish for. I would only have given him a contract to the end of this season but as he is making good progress under difficult cercumstance, let’s give Moyes the benefit of the doubt over a few transfer windows and see if he reaches a wall. Don’t forget he has already banished one hoodoo this season with a win at Old Trafford.