There's validity to a lot of what you argue, James, and I've found myself chafing against Moyes's conservatism, lack of imagination when it comes to substitutions or game-changing tweaks, and our lack of an identifiable playing style as the team has struggled in recent weeks. And if we revert to type against Leeds next Monday you'll have plenty of sympathisers.

I disagree in certain aspects. For example, his best teams of the mid-2000s were built on "give-and-go" midfielders and partnerships like Osman, Pienaar, Baines, Arteta, Gravesen, as well as the grit epitomised by Carsley, Neville, etc and I don't think the likes of Yakubu, Beattie, Johnson or Jelavic were big target men, per se. And he wouldn't have willingly signed Beto had he been in charge a couple of years ago.

At his Goodison peak, Moyes's teams could be wonderful to watch even if they were let down at times by dips in the quality of recruitment, budgets or some of the limitations in his management that you describe above.

Can he succeed in the current environment of dynamic and adaptable younger coaches — where "succeed" means to win trophies and get into the Champions League? That's the main question for me but if his time horizon is only the remaining 18 months of his contract, it might be a moot one.

I find this whole conversation deeply weird. We've just beaten prospective champions on their own turf who had previously won their previous ten. This enabled us to continue our run of having the best away record IN THE LEAGUE and people are talking about 'getting rid in the Summer'.

Kevin, I can understand the discussion because the debate at the moment is among those looking at the next few years under whatever strategy TFG are looking to implement and whether Moyes fits it and/or is the man to carry it through.

The flip side to your point about our admirable away record is our home form which should be the bedrock of any successful side and which, if it hadn't been so chequered even with our best players on the pitch, would have us up there in the top four or five behind Villa.

That either speaks positively to Moyes's abilities — i.e. he's decent fullbacks and a top striker away from a Champions League-qualifying team — or he's battling that all-too-familiar inherent glass ceiling. At this point, it's hard to know and his detractors are working more from his previous tenure with us together with West Ham's experience with him.

We might have a better idea at the end of the season.

James
I was very reluctant to accept Moyes back but as an Evertonian of longstanding have seen all the ups and downs of manager changes over the last 65 years and the only thing that is certain is nothing is certain.

Our most successful manager came back two more times and was unsuccessful. We have had the best manager in the world and yet he could only manage 8th place.

There are many other considerations apart from the manager first and foremost being the support.
Our away support is by far the best in the league and has no doubt contributed to our away form being on a par with Arsenal.
When Everton are doing well and playing well the home support is amongst the best in the world (Evidence the Bayern Munich night).

However when the pressure is on the home supporters tension can be heard and felt throughout the stadium.

There is also the new stadium factor where the majority of teams moving to a new stadium do not enjoy the home form advantage.

With Bramley Moore this is compounded by the hospitality and accommodation we allow the away team unlike quite a few other places where they make the away support suffer inferior conditions.

One other factor is the quality of the squad and the first time Moyes was here he tolled under the autocracy of "Penniless Kenwright" and certainly overperformed, winning manager of the year a number of times.

Having rejoined a year ago most Blues would acknowledge he has outperformed his predecessors yet again while losing 10 or 12 players and only being able to bring 6 in.

Most supporters were relatively happy pre Xmas but then a spate of injuries, suspensions and Afcon put the blocks on.

I know it has been a frustrating 30 odd years for Blues fans but if we can bottle the away support and replicate its positivity at Bramley Moor we will surely turn our home form around too.

Lyndon, unless we experience an Ancelotti like fall from grace this promises to be the most exciting season since Moyes was last here. Us being 3 points of a Champions League place, and all our good players coming back in the next couple of weeks. The thought of throwing this progress all back into the mixer to try and snare the next Frank Lampard fills me with horror.

I just don't understand Evertonians, I think that 's it.

Well, the idea would be to not hire the next Frank Lampard but the next Unai Emery, Andoni Iraola, Oliver Glasner or Mikel Arteta, wouldn't it? Let's face it, with the exception perhaps of Marco Silva (and even then I think there's a ceiling where he is concerned), Everton have hired poor managers ever since Moyes left 13 years ago.

(And with all due acknowledgment of the foundations he inherited and how his tenure fell off a cliff, I'd argue the most exciting season since Moyes left was Roberto Martinez's first when we racked up enough points to have finished 4th in most Premier League seasons.)

Certainly in the last few years as Moshiri panicked we've not appointed managers truly capable of taking us to the next level. Irrespective of what happens with Moyes in the next 18 months, he won't be around forever and we will have to get the next hire right.

For Moshiri’s reign, just look at Manchester United. The Glazier’s might have sold a percentage of their stake, but they still remain, just like Bill Kenwright remained, as we slowly watched Everton, a club that has always been built on professionalism, slowly become the most unprofessional football club, in the EPL.

Any names in mind to succeed Moyes, Lyndon?

John (8), coming into this season you'd have said Iraola or Glasner, while acknowledging that either would have been a tough ask for us to attract given how the former would be regarded in Spain and the latter by the biggest clubs in England (United chief among them).

After an excellent start, Bournemouth's form has obviously tanked, although how much of that is due to them consistently losing their best players is hard to know. But Iraola plays a very "Everton of old" brand of football — fast, direct, fearless — and he is adept at responding to how games are unfolding (see their comeback from 2-0 down at Goodison last season). We'd have to get the recruitment spot on with him, though.

How you feel about Glasner this week (and whether you think we'd have been able to tempt him to BMD) rather depends on your views on a) Palace's own recent run of poor form and b) his outspoken conduct against the ownership this week.

Was he demonstrating unstinting ambition or was he undermining the authority of the ownership?

I don't have my ear close enough to the ground on the global game but someone like either of those two — i.e. someone with tactical acumen and a set and effective style of play — would do me. Hopefully the powers that be at EFC know what they'd be looking for.

I think Moyes has come close in the past. He could never get his hands on that elusive Marksman and although Seamus did his best, Our right side never quite had the same quality as our left.

If he could have had a Baines type on the right side too, He'd have been in business.

We’re only a defeat against Leeds away from hearing all of the anti Moyes arguments. He is cautious but I’m glad we have him at this juncture. 32 points in January will do me until we can iteratively improve the squad over 2 or 3 transfer windows. Ask West Ham fans whether they would take Moyes and 32 points on the board at this stage of the season.

I remember the clamour for us to act fast and get Potter not that long ago. Everton is a massive club. It takes a thick skin to do the top job at such a massive club like ours. Frank worked wonders at Brentford but is on borrowed time at Spurs. There are lots of managers that go on decent runs but their flame burns out. Chris Wilder looked good at one point. Going back further, so too did Mike Walker. The grass isn’t always greener.

The biggest indicator of a club’s success is the playing staff. We need better scouting and recruitment, but, for me now, Moyes is doing a fine job with limited resources.

I can’t understand this desire to get Moyes out. Let’s get some stability back into the club and then look to build by which time all the Postecagluis, Nunes, Marescas and Franks will be long forgotten and as for Martinez don’t make me laugh.

A lot of sense in that post Jay, but when you have just moved into a new stadium, with a man from a previous era back managing the club, arguably in a very similar way to when he was last here, then I think there are always going to be arguments, regarding the style of David Moyes?

I also think Craig calls it correctly, when saying we are only a defeat away from
hearing all of those anti-Moyes arguments, but I suppose the people who aren’t convinced, feel exactly the same way every time we win, and have to listen to how well the manager has done when his hands have been tied?

The only way it will ever change is if we keep winning, so keep winning David, keep winning please!

Thanks for the response, Lyndon. No, I wouldn’t want Glasner, he did well with a once-in-a-generation squad but his percentage play isn’t much better than Dyche. Good but not us. Iraola? Maybe.
Either Lee Carsley or the brightest new German thing that Brighton are looking at.

Even before Moyes came back to the club his detractors were out in full force and despite the upturn in fortunes since he returned there are still an awful lot of them only too willing to have a go at him.

In my case I wasn’t against his return and I always felt he would see out his 2 and a half years having steadied the ship and move aside with grateful thanks for a more dynamic manager.

The Freidkins seem to want a steady progression so I would expect his end of year report from them to be keep up the good work.

It’s a tight league but European qualification isn’t beyond us but that would surely be a bonus given the squad limitations for various reasons.

At the start of the season a top half finish would have been accepted by most evertonians.

The twists and turns will continue but the win at Villa proves we have some decent players that just need a run of games.

James your assessment of Moyes Everton is spot on.thank you very much for your article .The only ambition shown is a galvanised display of the same system.Against the traditional Top 4 his ambition goes and containment is the objective. But I think it goes deeper than Moyes.It is structurally built into Everton and Moyes is a figure head and willing participant. He symbolises Inertia and the system he heads.

Everton FC: A Manifesto for Change

This club does not fail by accident. It fails by design.

Everton’s repeated early exits from domestic cup competitions, and its inability to sustain a challenge across more than one front, are not the result of bad draws, poor refereeing, or individual errors. They are the predictable outcomes of a football operation built to survive, not to compete.

1. Cup Failure Is Systemic

Everton routinely exit domestic cup competitions by February because the club is not structured to sustain multiple competitions. Coaching, sports science, squad rotation, and tactical preparation are all calibrated toward league survival. Progression in cups is treated as risk, not opportunity.

A club that plans for one competition will always fail in two.

2. European Football Is Structurally Unattainable

European qualification is no longer a bonus — it is a development engine. It brings revenue, prestige, player attraction, and competitive learning. Everton’s persistent mid-table finishes, while peers advance into Europe, represent strategic failure, not mere underperformance.It is doubtful European qualification is a real objective other than something theoretical on a Strategic plan. , it is just seen as extra unwanted work.

A club that cannot cope with league and cups cannot cope with league and Europe.

3. Incentives Reward Stagnation

When football operations are rewarded identically regardless of ambition or outcome, stagnation becomes rational. Early cup exits, conservative tactics, and a February shift into survival mode are not signs of incompetence — they are signs of misaligned incentives.

What gets rewarded gets repeated.

4. Recruitment Without Development Is Waste

Everton have invested in young, high-potential players, but without elite coaching systems, tactical continuity/progression, and modern player development pathways, these assets stagnate or depreciate. Recruitment alone cannot compensate for a failure of development.

Spending without coaching is not investment — it is erosion.

5. Stability Without Change Is Decline

David Moyes has provided short-term stabilisation, but he represents continuity with the very system that has produced repeated failure. His methods are aligned with survival, not growth. Under his stewardship, nothing structural is being built for the future.

Stability that preserves a failing system is not progress.

6. The Predictable Endgame

The outcome of this model is familiar:

early cup exits,

mid-table finishes,

late-season survival narratives,

endless debates about players instead of purpose.

Everton do not currently operate as a club that intends to grow — only to endure.

The Choice

With a new stadium and a refinanced future, Everton face a clear decision:

Remain organised for survival — or rebuild Finch Farm, incentives, coaching philosophy, and accountability for multi-competition performance.Hopefully TFG have the structure, metrics and accountability now in place for radical and difficult change.This was completely absent before their arrival.

Until that choice is made, results will change only at the margins, and history will continue to repeat

Thank you James for a well written and thought provoking article.

Whilst I don’t disagree with much of what you say, I do believe that Moyes should be given the chance to take the team forward into next season.

This club had been a basket cast under Morshiri, and thus mid table mediocrity is something I’m willing, even grateful, to accept. I don’t feel that a single transfer window, especially in the context of such a massive turnover of players, is sufficient to judge what Moyes II (the revenge?!) can do under this new regime.

I’m excited to see the team continue to gel over what is very much a transitional season. Our squad had started to resemble Frankenstein’s monster in how it was composed of players brought in by so many different managers. It finally feels like we have a little continuity.

I, for one, am enjoying the football we’re playing, contrast the dross under Dyche. But in fairness I am the kind of person that enjoys an old school centre back like Tarks (nb some of his crossfield diagonals are pretty good imo!) Of course there are teams which are easier on the eye, but I suppose it’s individual taste.

We’re half a dozen players away from a squad that can match any side in this division. So I’m of the mind to see what can be done next summer, and definitely without yet another managerial merry-go-round.

If Everton ditch Moyes (which they won't), there is a very slim chance that results and performances will improve slightly. However, there is a much chunkier chance that things will return to dogshit. And if you know your recent (Everton manager) history, you will be aware of that.

Football fans (me included) hate to be realistic. Its the hope of winning a trophy that keeps us going. But anyone with a brain can analyse the trend between club revenue and winning trophies. Spurs make almost 3 times more money than Everton every year and yet they still don't win things!

There will be the odd anomaly (Leicester league and FAcup, Palace FAcup) but every other trophy in the last 10 yrs has been won by a club that earns many times more than we do.

The extra revenue generated from our shiny new stadium barely allows us to hang onto the coat tails of Villa, West Ham, Brighton. We can forget about Newcastle, Spurs, Chelsea, RS, Arsenal, City and Utd. We will be fortunate to compare financially to Fulham and Palace at best.

So to hang onto a manager that keeps us comfortably in mid table is all that can be expected, unless of course the owners are as unrealistic as the majority of us fans.

Jerome 16. I read your comments with interest, a lot of it rings true when you look at our history and performance. Id love to know what TFG have planned, I had thought it would be pure commerce, but there is every reason to hope that they will bring a new mentality to club performance at every level.
Interesting times.
Seperately, the bbc have just run a story on the Don Revie contract offer, worth a read...

Andy below I have attempted to list what the TFG have done so far. I still using James's opinion as the bases and my opinion built on that as context.

Ownership & Board Structure
Takeover completed: TFG (via Roundhouse Capital) now owns ~99+ % of Everton.

Leadership at the top:

Dan Friedkin positioned as Chairman and Marc Watts (TFG) as Executive Chairman, with TFG’s CFO also appointed to the Everton board, signalling a more corporate governance structure focused on financial discipline and strategic long-term planning.

Additional board appointments:

Include individuals directly chosen by Friedkin, introducing a more US-style executive oversight compared to the previous local fan-culture–driven board according to the Esk.

Executive Leadership Overhaul.

New CEO: Angus Kinnear was appointed CEO from June 2025, bringing extensive experience from other English clubs and a reputation for disciplined operations and analytics-driven decision-making.This replaced the interim leadership that had been in place under the previous regime, embedding a professionalised, performance-based executive system.

Football Operations Restructure
from Single DoF to Football Leadership Team:

Rather than relying on one Director of Football (e.g., Kevin Thelwell, whose contract was not renewed), Everton moved to a multi-specialist football leadership structure under the CEO:

Technical Director – oversees football technical operations

Director of Scouting & Recruitment – leads recruitment strategy

Head of Football Strategy & Analytics – embeds data in planning

Director of Player Trading – focuses on transfers and commercial player value

This “football leadership team” replaces the traditional single director model and is designed to integrate analytics, talent ID, and market strategy into decision-making across operations.

Data & Analytics Emphasis:

Kinnear has publicly stated the club is shifting toward data-driven decision processes across recruitment, performance, and commercial strategy, a clear break from the previous era’s more ad-hoc spending patterns.

Financial & Commercial Systems,

Debt Restructuring & Stability.TFG refinanced the club’s substantial debt and renegotiated interest terms, reducing immediate financial strain and returning some control over long-term borrowing.

This restructuring is intended to improve Everton’s Profitability & Sustainability Rules (PSR) compliance and free up operating cash flow, according to the Esk.

Stadium Financing & Commercial Deals:

TFG secured long-term funding (e.g., £350 m package around stadium debt), part of broader revenue planning tied to the Bramley-Moore Dock mov, signalling an emphasis on commercial optimisation of the new venue.

Broader Strategic & Cultural Changes:

such as a Centralising Back-Office Systems.Reports indicate Everton’s corporate functions (finance, medical, data, logistics) are being integrated into a new sports umbrella structure (Pursuit Sports) which also links Everton with other Friedkin football assets, mirroring American multi-club operational models, according to the Esk.

Women’s Team Leadership Shift:

CEO changes extended to the Everton Women’s side, with leadership exits and structural reviewing ongoing — part of aligning both clubs under a cohesive ownership system.

The above has already been visible in the recruitment of high potential young players at high cost, as opposed to Moyes protested season Professional approach.Moyes has fought a rearguard action with his selections and the introduction of these young players only under pressure.But there are signs that he has succumbed to the inevitable. IMO Moyes system is now in the process of being full exposed and it must be obvious to him that he has to adapt even more. If he starts to complain as in the Summer around March it means the game is up for him and he knows he hasn't been able adapt enough, largely because he did not demand change and stretched performance at Finch Farm and the analytics and metrics will be there to prove it.

The Friedkin Group website when it highlights it's operations AS Roma is cited in Sport. Everton are not yet up to sharing the page with the groups mission statement on it.

Again I am grateful to James articulate and keen observations.

I agree with most of what James says, but I do think Moyes was the correct appointment and should at least see out the rest of this season.
What irks me about him is the psychology of the man. His unashamed fawning sycophancy towards Alex Ferguson when UTD played Everton made me retch. Talking of having a bottle of wine for him at the end of the game. Can you imagine our red cousins talking like that of a rival figurehead? No, because that's not how winners talk.

Thanks for that Jerome

I think the original post is a year too early. There is a chance that the team could go from strength to strength having achieved safety at such an early stage of the season ( for us). There is also the possibility of more injuries. The more likely scenario with this small squad is a repeat of the first half ie, inconsistency. Knackered players are inconsistent. We need to bring quality players in who can be a solid part of the squad. And we need a young maverick on the bench like the kid at Wolves.

I agree with much that has been written here - notably the 'choice' referred to by Jerome (16). Although the scale of the rewards from European competition is high this is possibly offset by the risk of being relegate through having stretched a squad too thinly.

Moyes will never be the adventurous manager that some would like to see, and with that comes stability. It strikes me that given where Everton were under Dyche, the decision to utilise the Moyes approach was the correct one - if only to 'right the ship'.

The question then is perhaps - when do Everton decide to 'kick-on'... or even should they? Perhaps consistent revenue is in fact the goal, and the fans simply must accept this..?

Rupert I think your last paragraph is the crossroads we are at.I do think that Evertonians still think of Everton as a big Club and still expect that they will rise up out of the pit of mediocrity that they have lived in too long.

Personally I have something against big titles( never liked them) and no results or not trying. I never got away with that myself.

Duncan,

Spurs won a European Trophy last season, Newcastle won the League Cup and Palace the FA Cup, surely these are ambitions we can aspire to.

I concur with much of the articles premise and argument. We have done really well away from home since Moyes returned. In competitive matches at home in the same period we have won 8, lost 8 and drawn 8.

I think he will get to the end of the season and will be gently moved on by the TFG.

Thank you James for your article. However, I do believe at Everton there has been too much focus on the various player Managers, whilst the important Broad Room duties have been little more than Hospitality Hosts.

In his first period with the Club, Moyes did seem to have a fairly free hand, albeit with little money to spend, and in fairness this worked reasonably well. However, when he left and we had a whole series of Managers some of them for very short periods. It was then, with little control and direction from the Board that the Club went from crisis to crisis.

Things now look very different of course, and the Manager (currently Moyes) has to fit in and work with a whole team of experts appointed directly by the Board and not directly responsible to the team Manager. How Moyes will cope with this I am not sure, but the evidence of last summers player recruitment suggests to me that there is work to do.

So it's still early days with our new Owners. They have appointed a number of experienced Chiefs so let's see what they can do. Apart from the normal player issues, I hope someone is in regular dialog with the relevant Authorities, sorting out travel to and from the ground and the controlling the surprising number of 'catering facilities' that have opened in competition with those provided by the Club.

We have a truly beautiful Stadium, but to keep the fans happy and the hospitality seats full we need to be doing better on the pitch, loosing out so early in both Cup competitions was a major disappointment. For the rest of this season home form needs to improve and as more players become available they need to be given a chance to establish the basis of the squad for next season. And unless things change drastically I would hope that Moyes will at least be in charge next season.

Edward (26) I agree that we should aspire to win some silverware but it would be foolish to expect it. Last season was an anomaly, but even so - the turnover of the 3 teams you mention is more than ours (even Palace). Newcastle and Spurs revenue is gigantic compared to ours. So going back to my point, Palace and Leicester are the only clubs with comparable or lesser turnover to ourselves that have won anything in the past 10 years. That's 3 trophies out of a possible 30 (domestically). The other 27 trophies have been hoovered up by the richest 6/7 clubs and we cannot compete (modern football is structured to ensure that).

I hope I'm wrong, but if Moyes goes, we will only get worse.

Duncan#28

Things getting worse are a real possiblity if Moyes is replaced, if the background work of change is not able to kick in.Any Manager replacing Moyes will be on Square One of Stage one, because Moyes was about maintaining the status quo.It was necessary after the debacle years, but we are now coming to the time when Everton will need to push on.

Tbis may take a while longer, because we are not fully aware at what stage the background TFG changes will kick in effectively.But progress is necessary on this front for a new Manager.

Replacement Managers after a Moyes tenure do not do well.I expect more confrontation in transfer policy and player development, as TFG push through with changes. This will appears as Moyes playing to the gallery and dour statement of expectation reality. A attempt by Moyes to control the narrative.

If he comes out with People's Club sop, I will throw up.