Is the real Davey Moyes about to stand up?

I'll put my cards on the table. I was dead against the return of Davey Moyes. The idea of him leading us into our beautiful new state of the art stadium left me cold.

Everton Football Club, the institution, needed to get out of Goodison Park. Whilst I believe the faithful who had  worshipped there for so many years can justifyably claim to have saved the club from the very real threat of extinction, there can be little doubt that the bricks and mortar, the stadium itself,  had long since been more of a hinderence than a help.

We often refer to the "soul" of Goodison – that unquantifiable thing which made leaving the old girl so very painful.... And as so many other institutions have discovered, transferring a football club from its spiritual home to a shiny new promised land  has proven to be an incredibly difficult trick to pull off. So when I realised the man who was ultimately to be charged with the task of taking us to our new promised land. I have to confess. My instant reaction was "Davey-fucken-Moyes?!" 

I think it's fair to say that Moyes has alway had his critics, but it would also be fair to acknowldege that he has surprised even his staunchest among them since he returned. He seems different. Of course, he is still managing expectation. I dont think that will ever change... but by talking about winning a trophy he is showing an inner ambition that I, for one, had not detected before. 

Maybe he has realised that to be recognised as a top manager he needs to put a major trophy in the cabinet. One of far greater significance than the much derided pot he won for West Ham. He must surely know that if he is to escape being bracketed forever with the likes of Allardyce, Dyche, Southgate and so many other dull "British" managers, he needs to deliver.

I sometimes think Moyes's biggest critics are the match-goers themselves. While armchair fans can quickly forgive and forget a boring, safety-first ninety minutes, those who have given up their entire day spending money they can't really afford will be far more difficult to appease.  I still recall him facing down about 60-70 seriously  angry supporters at Lisbon airport. He didn't just stand his ground. He marched right up and had it out with them.  Whilst it was difficult not to admire his balls, it was even more difficult to ignore the fact that he simply didnt understand them... The question is: does he understand them today?

There are some things about Moyes which I personally never had a problem with. For instance, his attempt to get Baines and Fellaini on the cheap. He wouldn' have been doing his job If he hadnt tried. And — this will go down well — I have no doubt whatsoever that he was right when he spoke about taking a knife to a gunfight. Whilst elite clubs were bringing in the world's greatest marksmen, we were having to go into battle with the likes of dear Marcus Bent, Biffa and Andy Johnson. In truth, only The Yak came close to being a top striker during his time here and I lost count of the number of games we narrowly lost to the top clubs because they had a top striker to make the difference and we didn't. 

Having pleaded the case for the his defence, I believe the case for his prosecution is so well documented, it almost presents itself. That semi-final against Liverpool did happen. The terrible hammerings at the hands of the better teams once we had conceded and plan A had gone out of the window still haunt... Wigan. 

I don't want to dwell solely on the negative aspects of his career.  Any manager who signed Baines. Pienaar. Arteta, Cahill, Coleman, Stones can't be completely anti-football. He did have his moments and I wonder if he had have been slightly more adventurous, could he field a true argument-settler in the form of a Thierry Henry or an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ?  

The problem Moyes has this time around is the same as the one he had throughout his first stint. He still can't afford the high quality striker he craves. But if he is to win that elusive trophy with Everton he has to change his mentality. As the old Chinese proverb says: A leopard with a knife may be second favourite, but if he plays his cards right he can still defeat a leopard with a gun... but only if he is prepared to change his spots. 

After only three games, we have already witnessed the sort of contrasting performances which created such divisions within the fan base during his first stint. His detractors will tell you the performance at Leeds had his finger prints all over it.  It was depressing and, let's face it, as negative as it gets. His supporters, however, will rightly point to that fantastic performance at Molineux where we were treated to more than a hint of ambition... shades of Pienaar, Baines and Osman in their pomp. It's difficult to think of two more contrasting examples of intent from the dugout, barely a week apart.

Moyes went close last time, but I never really felt he was bold enough to land the cigar and I would be really surprised to hear he didn't lie awake some nights thinking of how it might have been so different.

Whatever happens, most Evertonians (including me) would have to admit that the decision to bring him back has proven to be the correct one. He's been just what we needed and It would be fantastic to think we now have an older, wiser and more importantly, bolder version of the guy who was once  naive enough to walk into a room just after the departing Sir Alex Ferguson had just rolled a grenade into it.