David Moyes’ reputation needs resuscitation. Not that it should.
In more than a decade with Everton the former Celtic, Dunfermline and Preston defender not only kept the Merseyside club in the Premier League but also took them to an FA Cup final and the qualification stages of the UEFA Champions League. And he did it on a shoestring budget, running a positive transfer balance of more than £12 million between the summer of 2003 and his switch to Manchester United in 2013.
No doubt he will have looked twice when current Toffees boss Roberto Martinez was given £36 million to spend in July and August, in addition to free agent Samuel Eto’o’s wage packet. And he’ll have surely grimaced as his Old Trafford replacement—Louis van Gaal—dispensed with nearly £150 million over the same period.
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That is, of course, if he had even brought himself to look at the changed circumstances of his former employers, who, coincidentally, went head-to-head last Sunday.
Moyes, ever the optimist, has every reason to be bitter, especially with his Everton achievements so recently in the past.
“I’d been at Everton for more than 11 years,” he told the Mail on Sunday back in August. “We’d qualified for the Champions League, got to an FA Cup final. I’d been voted Manager of the Season three times. I was among the most experienced managers in the Premier League.”
As if we should need reminding.
But unfortunately for him—and it’s a massive indictment of our memories—we most certainly do. Because the debacle that was his ill-fated tenure at Manchester United seems to have clouded everything that came before it.
Of course, he was at least partly culpable for the Red Devils’ downfall, perhaps more than any individual at the club. But neither his selection nor tactical failings, or any other shortcomings, absolves Ed Woodward of a fumbling performance in the 2013 transfer market, and it doesn’t pardon the previous regime of failing to reinvigorate an aging, stagnant squad.
He, however, has been the one to pay a price with his reputation, and six months on from his exit there’s still the notion that he is somehow damaged goods. And that’s cruelly unfair.
Ahead of the ongoing season Moyes interviewed for the Galatasaray job, only to lose out to former Italy manager Cesare Prandelli. Another failure, but it provides a glimpse into the 51-year-old’s headspace.
He’d prefer his next job to be with a Champions League club, and he admitted as much to The Guardian while on holiday in Florida.
“It could be at home or abroad,” he said, adding, “I have always liked the thought of broadening my horizons and learning a bit more.”
To that end, he’ll no doubt be following the unrest at Inter Milan, where last week Walter Mazzarri was given the dreaded vote of confidence after guiding the Nerazzurri to just two wins from their first six Serie A matches.
Galatasaray could suddenly be an option again as well, what with the recent reports that Prandelli’s post at the Istanbul giants is hardly secure. Celtic, too, will be on his radar. Ronny Deila’s side are presently sixth in the Scottish Premiership and the former Stromsgodset boss is on an easily-disposable one-year contract.
Newcastle are also an intriguing possibility. Alan Pardew is on borrowed time at St. James’ Park, and a return to the Premier League would provide Moyes the opportunity to re-establish his standing in English football while taking advantage of the club’s considerable resources.
But would they have him? Would any of them have him? Does the stigma of his United stint still overshadow his work at Everton and the promise he showed as an up-and-coming manager for so long?
For now, the answer likely remains “yes.” Which is why he might just content himself with waiting in the shadows a while longer, until time—humiliation’s greatest ally—washes away the stain of disappointment.
Jerrad Peters is a Winnipeg-based writer. Follow him on Twitter