Bluedylan1 wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2026 5:29 am
I've been one of the biggest pro-Moyes voices on the forum, and even I think it's not unreasonable to question the manager's position after the last few weeks. It's certainly not unreasonable to have the conversation.
I still think Moyes is a very good manager, and I think he's an excellent Everton manager. I think he's been the ideal pair of hands to steer us to safety in our final season at Goodison, and allow us to actually enjoy that and not be riddled with anxiety about relegation. That was a BIG deal, we shouldn't forget.
We were on our arses when Dyche lost his nerve and realised the club was far too big and historied for his gaslighting operation to work. We were in a very precarious position when Moyes arrived, and the wrong appointment there (possibly Graham Potter in that situation?) could've easily seen us in another relegation tailspin.
And for the vast majority of this season, I think it's fair to say he's overachieved with what are still very limited resources, and gaping holes in the squad. We were 3 points off a Champs League place on April 10th. Massive credit. Even a semi-ok finish to the season from there sees us get Europe comfortably.
And then we've had an absolutely disastrous 6 games since then. A complete implosion. Worse than any of us could've possibly imagined 6 games ago, even with our most pessimistic hats on.
So then the real question is - is it fair to write off 15 months of excellent work for 6 terrible games (when it really mattered!) where the whole thing has horribly imploded and all the best qualities of the manager have receded into the background, and a number of his worst instincts and tendencies have come back to the fore?
I am undecided on that. I have mixed feelings. Maybe it is fair to do that, because the 6 games were SO disastrous and because we're all inching closer to death.
I think there's every chance we buy some better players in the summer under Moyes, we look a better proposition next season with a more balanced squad and we could qualify for Europe. I think that's entirely possible and plausible. On the other hand, if the transfers go the other way, could we end up with another stale lower mid table season, and quite a toxic atmosphere? Absolutely we could.
If we bring Iraola in say, talented as he is, we don't have the squad to play his football. Not even close to it. It would need a big overhaul of playing staff, and lots of patience. Off the top of my head players who could play his style would be - Branthwaite, Garner, Rohl, Iroegbunam, KDH, Ndiaye, Dibling, George, Barry. The entire defence would need an overhaul. We'd have to remodel the midfield and attack over a few transfer windows. It would be a bit of a ''rip it up and start again'' option. Are our fanbase ready for that? Could our fanbase handle not winning until the 10th game of the season, like he did at Bournemouth, while he works on pressing traps and overloads?
That's not to say we shouldn't go for him now, or in the near future. I'm just posing the question, and pointing out that Iraola doesn't just come in and turn us into a slick, energetic attacking team without a fair bit of money being spent, and a fair bit of patience from the club and fanbase. He's not a pragmatist, he's an idealist. Those managers take time, and often you go backwards for a while before you move forwards.
So there's genuine pros and cons either way.
Overall, I think it's overwhelmingly likely we keep Moyes, whether we all agree with that or not. Angus Kinnear's comments pretty much indicated that. So we'd better get the summer transfers right. No ifs, buts or maybes. If I see a Soucek or a Trippier come through the door, get the manager gone for me and sink the Hill-Dickinson in the Mersey. If Keane or McNeil or Mykolenko starts the first game of next season, nuke the whole operation from orbit and erase us from the history books.
