A wily old Scot, David Moyes

The English Premier League has seen some of the best managers in the game grace its sidelines. The difference is that some of them are talked about, celebrated and known all over the world, while some of them don’t want to! One such manager, who breaks the norms and has survived the ‘5 losses and you’re fired!’ test since a long time is David Moyes. It is not that we do not have a wily old Scott in the Premier League already, but another one thrown into the mix makes it all the more interesting!

Under Moyes, Preston avoided relegation at the end of the 1997–98 season and reached the Division Two playoffs. The following season, Moyes guided Preston to the Division Two title and a promotion to Division One. An even greater achievement perhaps was to steer Preston into the Division One playoffs the season after that, with largely the same squad. Preston lost in the final of the playoffs in May 2001 and towards the end of the following season, Moyes left for Everton.

David Moyes for me is the perfect successor at Old Trafford once Sir Alex’s house can’t hold any more medals and trophies. The man is passionate about what he does and he has built together a team that has constantly finished in the ‘Best of the Rest’ category. When we talk about the qualities of a manager, we have to mainly take into consideration some of the following categories: Tactical Approach/consistency, Financial Control, maintaining Board Confidence, encouraging domestic players, Squad Discipline, Player Motivation, Club/Player Loyalty and Media Handling.

As far as tactical approach is considered, Moyes has made sure that his tactics suit his players’ style of play. The way he deployed Pienaar in Arteta’s role paid dividends for Everton and recently the player was on form for South Africa in the Confederations Cup. No one can blame him about tactical inconsistency, since he has been forced to tinker his squad due to injury problems. But in spite of them, his squad never looked short of winning matches. Jo’s resurgence under him and the success of Fellaini in a position he is not used to (striker rather than defensive midfield) is enough proof of what this manager can do given the right players and time.

Now we come to the most important part in football these days…finance. This is one of the most challenging task for a manager, living up to expectations with financial constraint. On top of that, we have clubs like Manchester City, which finished way below expectation, waiting to pay any given amount for players, thus making it tough for other financially weaker clubs to sign players. Moyes has excelled again at this task, bringing quality players for peanuts in today’s terms. Examples would be Lescott, Jagielka and Cahill. When he has splashed the cash, he has brought in Marouane Fellaini, who can be termed very successful given it was his first English season. The risk in bringing misfiring Jo on loan worked wonders for the team. Also, it is rare that you read news about an Everton player having a wage problem and this stands testimony that they are happy with their remuneration.

Moyes has a complete English backline consisting of Jagielka, Lescott, Leighton Baines supported by Phil Neville, Leon Osman and the upcoming Dan Gosling. Thus, he cannot be accused of not paying attention to the domestic player problem in the English league.

Squad discipline has never been a problem with Everton. Even if it has, Moyes has never let it come out, exactly what a good manager does. His players seem to respect him and it shows in the committed performances they put it, especially the impressive FA Cup run. Moyes has never talked about leaving his beloved Everton, in spite of being linked to some big moves in the past. He is not stupid enough to ignore the grape-vine in Manchester, but he never lets it come in the way of his current job. He knows his players throughout and is a sort of a messiah for players who thought they were done with football in England (examples would be Saha, Howard, Jo and recently he was linked to Owen). The media has never troubled him and vice-versa. His interviews are curt, to the point and told with a firm expression that no interviewer will want to change!

What Moyes has done is assemble a close-knit squad where everybody works for one another and the best part about it is that it can be literally seen on the pitch. Player motivation has never been a problem for this Scott can also spit fire when required. I think he has been extremely unlucky where player injuries are concerned. Yakubu and Saha can be lethal if they remain fit. Also, having Arteta around for the full season will no doubt help his cause. Given the resources he has and the way he has used them is concrete evidence that the next ‘Wily Old Scot’ is in the making.