David Moyes attended the recent Man City vs West Ham clash. (Image: Getty)
is set to go into a relegation dogfight just weeks after saying he didn’t want to take on another team that was “around the bottom of the league.” The 61-year-old , having held talks with the club following the sacking of .
The Scot has been a free agent since leaving in May, following four-and-a-half-years in charge of the Hammers.
During that period, the club won the UEFA Conference League, the club’s first major trophy in 43 years, and reached the semi-finals of the .
And last month, he outlined his desire to return to management at a club who were competing at the top end of the . “I don’t want to be taking jobs where I’m having to scrap all the time and be around the bottom of the league,” he told Sky Sports.
“Most of the time when I was at Everton we were probably competing around about European positions. And to be fair, the last four years at West Ham, three of them we’ve been in European football.
“So I’d like to think that I can do a job at a (high) level rather than maybe just be avoiding relegation and doing that job – which I’ve done a couple of times at West Ham.”
Moyes spent 10 years at Goodison Park before leaving for Man Utd in 2013. (Image: Getty)
Only and have managed more matches in the than Moyes. He also insisted he would only return to football on his terms, and wasn’t prepared to take a job that he didn’t feel suited him.
“I’ll wait on the right opportunity and if it doesn’t come, then I’ll be more than happy with where I’m at at the moment,” he continued. “I’ve done 1100 games or so and the majority of them in the .”
Moyes’ words are now set to come back to haunt him, with Everton sitting 16th in the table and just a point above relegation. Going down would represent a disaster for the club hierarchy, given they are due to move into their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium next season.
Don’t miss…
Moyes spent more than 10 years at Goodison Park after joining from Preston in 2002, with a best finish of fourth in the 2004/05 campaign. He also led his side to the 2008/09 final, where they were beaten 2-1 by .
But leaving to succeed Ferguson at in the summer of 2013 proved an ill-fated move, and he was sacked before the end of the following season. He’s since worked at Real Sociedad, Sunderland, and done two separate stints at West Ham.