🔵 Royal Blue: David Moyes wants you to dream
Everton are set to embark on another historic campaign but this time they have a manager who wants to embrace the occasion, not play it down
Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of the Royal Blue newsletter. Every Wednesday I will provide in-depth insight into the major talking points - on and off the pitch - at Everton FC.
Sign up to never miss an edition. It’s free.
You might also know Royal Blue from the podcast of the same name. Here’s Tuesday’s episode, in which we discuss the latest transfer news ahead of a busy summer for the Blues
A shift in tone. A chance to believe. It is OK to be excited
It doesn’t make everyone better players. It doesn’t make me a better manager, because it’s the last season in the Old Lady, the Grand Old Lady.
“It’s an amazing stadium with all its history and its depth, which I’ve learned quite a lot about over my time, but it doesn’t make everyone better. One of the hardest things to manage is when fans say, ‘why are you not giving us the season we want in the last season in the Grand Old Lady?’
Those were the words of an exasperated Sean Dyche last December. By then, Everton had already suffered ignominious home league and cup defeats to the likes of Brighton, Bournemouth and Southampton.
There had been those turgid draws against Newcastle and 10-man Brentford too, in which Jordan Pickford was the saviour, and that last-gasp Beto equaliser to spare the Blues from yet another home defeat by Fulham.
These scenes unfolded, of course, in the emotional final season at Goodison Park for Everton’s senior men’s team.
This is not an article that intends to be critical of Dyche. He may have polarised opinion but he kept Everton in the Premier League in the face of overwhelming odds and with chaos around him.
Like Kevin Thelwell, the now former director of football, if the new era Everton have now entered yields the progress we all hope for, the job they did during the club’s nadir will have been crucial in making it possible.
There were times when it felt as though he did not quite ‘get’ the supporters though. That message, that apparent concession that struggle was to be expected, played a role in sapping morale. There were times, sadly given the poignancy of the Goodison farewell, when going to that corner of L4 felt a chore. The biggest factors were the circumstances Dyche was fighting against but comments like that fed into the struggle.
This season, like last, will be an historic one. And the contrast in tone could not be more stark. Get ready to have some fun. Football is supposed to be fun, after all.
Whereas Dyche sought to play down the sentiment of the occasion last year, David Moyes is keen to play up to it, in what he says and what he does, on and off the pitch.
The mood shift even upon his arrival in January was remarkable. Everton were staring down the barrel of a fourth consecutive relegation fight. The fanbase was tired of having to come to the rescue of the team and a familiar feeling of fear was seeping in (I have already written of the desolation felt on that long trip home from defeat at Bournemouth just after the new year).
Yet, and I was there for his first press conference at Finch Farm, Moyes spoke of competing for Europe rather than fighting for survival. It was a tactic that lifted spirits immediately.
Don’t think it was accidental either. This is a manager who will repeatedly ask for his programme notes to be revised until he is happy his message is clear, and who thought hard about his demeanour amid concerns supporters may not take to him on his return.
After months of being questioned for wanting more from such a poignant season, passionate supporters were told they were right to dream of better days.
That tack will continue going forward. Part of Moyes’ approach appears to be that in order to become a better club, Everton must start acting like one. His words are an attempt to breed confidence in a club that has lost its swagger.
The manager is nervous about the immense transition of this summer, from the squad turnover to the move to the new stadium. Those concerns underpin why he was so keen to keep Seamus Coleman’s presence in the dressing room despite his injury struggles and his desire to play more practice games at the Hill Dickinson Stadium than will be possible.
But expect Moyes to play up to the occasion and demand the club - from the players on the pitch to the owners in the transfer market - attempts to exploit the vast potential that now exists.
He will want patience and measured expectations. He will want supporters to be fair as the club looks to make quick but sustainable progress. But he is not afraid of a marquee signing or of telling people the club should be aiming for the stars.
The message this season could not be more different to that of the last: Everton supporters, you are allowed to dream.
The Calvert-Lewin you didn’t see
My hope is that I leave with your respect, knowing I always sought to uphold the values of this great club
Injured and unable to help Everton face up to a chastening relegation fight, Dominic Calvert-Lewin found himself crying on his bedroom floor, he recently told the High Performance Podcast. Weeks later, after fighting against his own body, he had the final say with the diving header that saved his club.
The 28-year-old’s Everton story feels like a tale of ‘what ifs’. What if he hadn’t been plagued by injury? What if he had better service? What if he had taken this chance, or that chance?
We will never know the answers but we do know he was a player who, between his fitness struggles, repeatedly produced when it mattered. Palace. Leicester. Newcastle. Liverpool.
His departure, confirmed on Sunday, sparked a mixed reaction that, following his decision not to sign a new deal 12 months ago, was inevitable.
But whatever you think of DCL, he always appeared to care deeply about Everton. He is a mature, intelligent and thoughtful figure who spoke with both passion and eloquence. I was with him in the tunnel at the King Power after the 2-2 draw that kept Everton’s fate in their own hands with weeks to go in the 2022/23 season.
His goal from the spot in a match of such high-stakes took courage and it meant the world to him.
⭐ From the archive
The wonderful Men in Blazers is hosting a night with David Moyes in New York during the summer tour later this month. The show is a booming voice in the US football scene, run by Everton supporter Roger Bennett.
I was lucky enough to be in Washington DC three years ago when he held a similar event with Frank Lampard and players including Jordan Pickford.
It was at the start of that pre-season tour when hopes were still high that the relegation battle of the previous season was a one-off low-point. When it ended in disarray with the defeat at Minnesota United, then run by Everton legend Adrian Heath, that illusion was shattered (that was a grim, late night journey back to my hotel from St Paul).
But it started with fun in the capital and my review of that night focuses on Lampard’s view that Pickford’s stunning save to Cesar Azpilicueta in that momentum-turning win over Chelsea was the best of the Premier League era. There is a podcast from the night, which I may well listen to during a quiet moment.
Well, he didn’t come as close to being a Blue as Arnaut Danjuma, who, it has been claimed, changed direction at Crewe Station to instead head to Spurs in January 2023 (he said not everything was true and denied holding an Everton shirt and kissing the badge when I sat down with him, and others, when he did join six months later).
But as I was writing this newsletter, Fulham confirmed Kenny Tete had re-signed for the club, thus turning down Everton’s offer. It is an early summer reminder that not everything will go to plan, and that, given the immense number of signings needed, players who were not on the club’s radar may well end up on it as the window unfolds.
📰 Everton noticeboard
🧤 Slovenia youth international Zan-Luk Leban, one of a tranche of goalkeepers to have left the club this summer, has signed for Slovenian side NK Celje
✍ Eli Campbell has signed a new deal with the club. The 20-year-old centre back spent last season on loan at Ross County. He has been involved in the England development setup and has now signed a two-year deal
⚽ Everton in the Community lost to Chelsea Foundation on Saturday in the Amputee EE Disability FA Cup final. The Blues suffered a 2-0 defeat, 12 months on from their heartbreak at the hands of Portsmouth in last year’s final. They had beaten Pompey in 2023 - meaning that, despite the disappointment of the last two results, they have recorded the incredible feat of reaching three consecutive finals
📘 Prolific Everton author Steve Zocek is back with another book - Kendall’s Glory Years. A big figure in the Everton Heritage Society, Steve was the friendly face sat outside St Luke’s on matchdays. Steve was a recent guest on our Royal Blue podcast
🚪 Behind-the-scenes
🔵 I arrived at the ECHO office to a parcel on Tuesday morning - a grooming kit from the company Dr Squatch. There was no explanation over where it was from so I am left with two plausible answers - either Hollywood star Sydney Sweeney, who has collaborated with the company, is the latest celebrity Everton fan. Or, someone has watched me on the Royal Blue podcast and decided I need to sort myself out. I think I know which is more likely!
Thanks for reading. My name is Joe Thomas and I’m the Everton correspondent for the Liverpool Echo. I travel home and away to watch the Blues and speak to players, staff and, of course, David Moyes, on a regular basis. My ambition here is to give you a glimpse at life at the club that you can trust and value.
The Royal Blue newsletter is not a place for match reports and player ratings. It is a specially crafted effort to take you beyond the headlines and behind-the-scenes.
If you like this edition please spread the word and forward this email to friends or family who may also enjoy it.