Formby

Now Beckham's retired, how about offering him the job? Would dramatically increase the club's profile (thereby helping a sale), would get players wanting to come, would get the others wanting to play. Big risk, but with Phil as assistant?

Agree with this. Moyes was also a great ambassador for Everton and a good public face: none of that breathtaking sliminess and arrogance some other managers exude. I think he was let down by his inherent conservatism when it came to tactics. I wish him well, too, but I am excited at the prospect of getting a new manager. It had all got rather stale with DM. Of course, the board could mess up royally and appoint someone like Lennon or Hughes, but I don't think they will. I am pretty sure DM would have mentioned some names to Bill last night.

Delighted at this development. Pretty sure DM would have been tipped off by SAF (hence, why he didn't sign a new contract). The Moyes apologists will get to see him lift some real silverware, at last. Let's see what he can do with all that money and all those resources! The Moyes doubters (myself included) will hopefully get a new manager dedicated to open, expansive, attacking football, capable of getting the most out of our squad. Exciting times.

Watched that game and was absolutely inconsolable afterwards. We should have done the double that season. We lost home and away to bottom of the table Carlisle, four points which would have seen us champions, and folded at the end of the campaign. We had a decent team that year.

Terry Darracott still haunts me.

I would love us to go for Gourcuff. Still only 26, a real playmaker. Can play left and centrally. Scorer of one of the best goals I have ever seen. Even better when you watch in slow motion: you can't really work out how he did it.

And Moyes still can't do anything with it. Sure sign he's reached his ceiling. Out with the old, ring in the new, please.

With Ferguson in charge? Absolutely.

What the Moyes fan club appear to forget is that the cycle of decent results against 'bigger' teams, followed by abject failure in big games, and losses to very poor teams, has been going on for years. Moyes does just enough to make you think things will get better soon whereas, in actuality, he gets very well paid for achieving absolutely nothing. Arguing that things would be worse without him is a silly scare tactic designed to enforce the status quo. The club needs a new direction. Commentators in the media, especially the Liverpool brigade on MOTD, love to proclaim Moyes as Everton's Moyesiah, and cast dissenting fans as ungrateful Doubting Thomases. This is a pernicious fallacy. They want Moyes to stay in charge because they know we will never get anywhere under him. Everton are the spirited underdog, the plucky outsiders. The only thing we really contend for is public opinion. I don't want that and nor, I suspect, do most Everton fans.

They believed everything in the 70's, too. The unmasking of Kendo was big news and eagerly anticipated. I remember going to King's Hall, Belle Vue, as a kid and being mesmerised by the whole thing. Bit of a stretch to say modern stuff is 'better'. It's what you grew up with. Of course, these are just jejune reflections of a world that's long gone.

Absolutely correct. Inter proved that conclusively a couple of years ago in the CL SF against Barca. No problem with the sending off for me. United bleating about it is ridiculous. If they couldn't shut up shop, they should shut their mouths. Had a lovely walk round Piccadilly Gardens just now with a big smile on my face. Schadenfreude doesn't do justice to the way I felt. Gloating comes closer. Real fans celebrating in the fountains which was also nice to see.

It will end, as it always does, with us in (upper) mid-table obscurity, and with Moyes sitting on his fat, new contract, ready to give us more of the same. The (hopefully dwindling) band of Moyes apologists will cheer.

We'll lose to Norwich, draw with Reading, ending the season's pretence, I fear. Moyes will utter the usual platitudes, of course, leaving us just enough time over the summer to forget it all and allow him to repeat the whole process next season (ad infinitum). So, the cup is a better bet, but we're going to need a great deal of luck (all the good teams knocking each other out). I think we could take Luton in the final, though. Just. On penalties.

Problem lies with our guru on the touchline, I feel.

Another failure on the big stage? Stand up, Mr Moyes.

So, Moyes is not a defensive-minded manager, then?

You mean like Carlsberg was probably the best lager in the world?

A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country...

Would have worked better if I'd said Moyeses rather than Moses, but realised too late!

I divided the 20 team league into 3 tiers: top, middle, bottom. Strictly speaking, that's 1 to 6.66, 6.67 to 13.33, and 13.34 to 20. Our last three league positions were 8th, 7th, 7th. That keeps us out of the important top 6 and in mid-table (imo), though obviously at the top end of that. Statistically, you could round 6.67 to 7, but I prefer to be pragmatic and realistic. We are not a top 6 club; we are a decent mid-table team, no more, no less. To me, Moyes is the embodiment of a conservative manager - always sitting on leads, inviting teams on, espousing defensive virtue and responsibility over attacking flair. This season, as I said, he has a decent squad, and still resorts to the above. I loathe Man Utd and loathe SAF more, but would love to see what he would do with our squad. Elite managers get more from their players. He would also up the bloody tempo. As I said, Moyes is a decent man and a good PL manager, but he's more Moses than Joshua, and will never lead us to the other PL.

Ah, the perennial debate hots up. I've been saying for years that we won't win a thing with Moyes, which was okay when expectations were rock bottom, and the warm blanket of mid-table security seemed quite comforting. However, with a decent to good squad at our disposal, one naturally looks up. It is unfortunate then that the very qualities that brought us the mid-table security don't translate to the higher echelons of the PL. The guys up there sleep in silk pyjamas. Moyes is a good, well-respected PL manager. What he isn't is a higher echelon manager. He is far too conservative, far too defence minded, far too predictable, and far too lacking in tactical nous (see European jaunts and the important cup games for details). I hope he doesn't sign and moves on. Will always be grateful to him, mainly for the manner he has conducted himself, and for what he has done for the club, but really, can we not have an attack minded manager, please? One who doesn't stifle our forward looking players (pun intended).

It certainly was. Absolutely gutted me. The seventies seemed full of horrible nights.

Never forgave Darracott for that horrible back pass in '77. Actually, still don't.

Moyes has always been a conservative manager, shackled by a defence first philosophy. He's not going to change, ever. Would that he would. By the end of the season, he'll have us firmly ensconced in upper mid-table, where he'll say all the right things about hoping to push on next season, and the same thing will happen again. It's like waiting for Godot. You hope against hope Moyes can deliver and the good times will come again, but you know they won't. Because he won't. Good manager. Nice man. But not good enough. I hate SAF with a passion, but I am 100% certain he would do something with the squad we have this season. And that's quite galling.

This.