David Moyes returns after 12 years, Everton relegation hopes for 'legend'

The reporter reported coldly As the founding club of the Premier League, Everton is the last club outside of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to have never been relegated. This record has always been a source of pride for Everton fans, but halfway through this season's Premier League fixtures, Everton are only fifth from bottom, just one point clear of the relegation zone. This is the fourth season in a row that Everton have struggled on the brink of relegation, having narrowly escaped relegation on the previous three occasions. This time, Everton's new American owner, Friedkin, has decided to pin his hopes on the team's legendary coach David Moyes.

Neither Friedkin, who bought Everton on December 19 last year, nor Everton fans, or even the entire Inge, are clearly unable to withstand the blow of Everton's relegation. The American boss immediately showed his ruthless side, firing current coach Dyche at 4:25 p.m. local time on January 9, just three hours and 20 minutes before the team's FA Cup clash with Peterborough. The reason, of course, is Dyche's poor results: only 17 points from 19 Premier League games, with a measly three wins.

Although Dyche also took office in January two years ago to successfully lead the team to relegation, and also completed the relegation task last season, the American owner hopes that he can win the support of fans immediately after taking office. The recall of Meritorious Coach David Moyes is an inevitable decision. In fact, David Moyes was not Friedkin's first choice, and when the American boss was still hesitant to hire Graham Potter, the latter was preemptively signed by West Ham. Although he was the "spare tire" for Friedkin's selection of coaches, Moyes's aura at Everton in the past was enough to make Toffee fans have high hopes for him.

David Moyes, who fought Everton in March 2002, was in charge for 11 seasons and failed to win any trophies, but set the club back to the pinnacle of the Premier League era. David Moyes led the team to the highest Premier League finish of the era (4th in 2004/05) and made their first and only appearance in the Champions League. Between 2004/05 and 2012/13, when he left, Everton finished outside the top eight once and played in Europe four times. The 2008/09 season also saw an FA Cup final, again the only time so far in the Premier League era.

For the Toffees fans of the Premier League era, Moyes is the Ferguson of Goodison Park. The Scottish coach was indeed handpicked by Lord Ferguson, who said goodbye to Everton to coach Manchester United in the summer of 2013 after Ferguson's retirement.

In the 12 years since he left Everton, Moyes has also experienced a purgatory test of his coaching career. At Manchester United, not only did the Red Devils suffer a crushing defeat in Europe for the first time in the Premier League era, but also wiped out their glory at Everton. Since then, he has been disappointing in charge of Real Sociedad and Sunderland. Surviving only one year in La Liga, Sunderland also led to the Black Cats being relegated from the Premier League for the first time in 10 years. West Ham United, who were on fire in November 2017, also left after two rounds of relegation.

What really brought Moyes back to English football came his second spell in charge at West Ham United, where he led to relegation after re-entering the firing line at the end of 2019. The following season led West Ham United to a Premier League-high 65 points and qualified for next season's Europa League in sixth place. David Moyes has led West Ham to European competition for the second season in a row, beating Fiorentina in the 2022/23 Cup final. However, the Premier League team did not perform well and had no choice but to leave after his contract expired last summer.

The return to Everton is an opportunity for Moyes to prove his coaching ability once again, but it is also an adventure that can ruin his former reputation as an 'Everton legend'. New owner Friedkin believes that in addition to the team's relegation, Everton will play in a new stadium in the new season, and also need a real legend as a witness to this historic moment. Moyes returns this time to sign a three-year contract with Everton until the summer of 2027. Restoring unity and morale to the dressing room, which has been divided by dissatisfaction with former coach Dyche, is Moyes' top priority since taking charge.

Everton have survived in the English top flight for 71 seasons and David Moyes knows he has a responsibility ahead of him. The relegation failure is not only a loss of hundreds of millions of pounds in broadcast revenue for Everton, which is already in deep financial crisis, but also among the founding clubs of the Premier League, Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United, which were once old powerhouses with Everton, have sunk, and Wimbledon has even ceased to exist. If Moyes is not relegated, he may have ruined his 12-season record at Everton.