David Moyes will walk back into the familiar surroundings of Finch Farm training ground on Sunday morning with a smile on his face but also a sense of achievement, after twice before believing he would return to Everton only for it not to happen.
It’s without doubt that the 61-year-old holds Everton very close to his heart. The club means a lot to him after he spent 11 years building a solid foundation before leaving for the bright lights of Manchester United.
Ironically, it was at Old Trafford where he caught the eye of the man who would come close to making his return a reality a lot sooner than it ultimately was.
Farhad Moshiri, who would go on to become owner of the club four years later, was invited to Old Trafford by his friend and then Everton chairman Bill Kenwright for a game that has gone down in history as a defining day in Premier League folklore. Everton came back three times which many felt effectively prevented United from winning the title that year.
Moshiri, watching from the stands, was amazed at the energy and passion coming from Moyes on the touchline. He was impressed with Moyes’ level of fight and determination despite the pressure his side were under.
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Paul Merson says he is sceptical about David Moyes’ return to Everton with the Toffees boss returning after an 11-year absence, while Clinton Morrison says he would have preferred to have seen Lee Carsley be given the job
Fast forward six years, Roberto Martinez had been sacked by Everton and there was a choice in front of Moshiri and his chairman Bill Kenwright: Ronald Koeman or David Moyes.
My understanding is that Moshiri wanted to appoint the guy he had been so impressed with years earlier. Kenwright was nervous as there was a degree of fan pushback. He felt the pressure would be too much and despite agreeing on Moyes, Kenwright and Moshiri decided at the last minute to go with Koeman.
A few years and managers later, Everton found themselves looking for another man to take the club forward, despite many millions being spent and still poor results on the pitch.
Marco Silva, the popular choice before, had suffered a run of bad results and the change was made. Once again, Moyes was the man earmarked to take over. He flew to Europe to meet Moshiri and all was agreed, so much so that on their return to the airport Kenwright shook Moyes’ hand and said: “Welcome back to Everton.”
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Moyes has returned to Everton – a club he took from a relegation battle to the top four, Europe and a FA Cup final. Sky Sports’ Peter Smith looks back on his transformative first stint in charge at Goodison Park
But within 24 hours, Carlo Ancelotti had left Napoli, there was a call to Moshiri from an agent that the Italian would be interested in joining Everton and this sent both Moshiri and Kenwright into a head spin.
How could they turn down Ancelotti? It was awkward to say the least but the decision was made to go with him. Moyes had impressed, had shown that he really wanted the job, and was hurt by the sudden change of heart.
I remember the look in his eyes when we spoke on a podcast a few years ago. He looked like a man that had been badly let down.
Fast forward again – in fact, let’s skip another three permanent Everton managers – to this week. Sean Dyche was relieved of his duties, the poor run of results this season was too much for the new owners to take and they had to act.
Many felt that Graham Potter would be the man. He was the choice of Moshiri if he had have changed before the takeover. That didn’t happen but Moyes was someone the incoming owners had been monitoring from afar.
They didn’t want to be forced into making a change as quickly into their tenure as this. They had hoped to get to the end of the season and have some time to make a full evaluation of the direction they wanted to go in. It became apparent after the Bournemouth game that it wasn’t going to be possible and the change needed to happen.
A list of Moyes’ achievements during his first period in charge of Everton
Moyes was their first choice. Changing a manager mid-season and when your team is in a relegation fight comes with huge risk and any appointment had to be made with the least amount of risk possible. Moyes represents that.
He returns to familiar territory, to familiar faces, many are still there from when he left, none more so than captain Seamus Coleman, arguably Moyes’ most prudent signing in his previous spell. He will be a valuable link in the dressing room.
Moyes will walk into a manager’s office at Goodison Park on Wednesday against Aston Villa that he knows only too well and out into the dugout in front of 40,000 fans he knows as much as anyone can. He will know what they want, what they demand and will want to deliver that to them.
There are no guarantees in football as Moyes himself found out on those two previous near-misses. It won’t be an easy ride but there will be nobody more determined, more committed or more passionate than him to try and bring stability to a club that has been crashing around from one trouble to another for far too long.
Everton’s first six fixtures following the return of Moyes
