. “Done Deal Mentality: Ex-Everton Star Says Moyes Is the Real Winner Goodison Needed All Along”

‘I’d Have Loved to Play for Moyes’ – Terry Phelan Backs Everton Boss to Lead Revival

Former Everton defender Terry Phelan has hailed David Moyes as the ideal manager to spearhead the club’s new era, insisting the Scotsman’s deep-rooted understanding of Everton’s culture sets him apart from modern-day “PlayStation managers”.

Moyes returned to Goodison Park in January, nearly 13 years after his first spell at the club, with new owners The Friedkin Group making him their first managerial appointment. And Phelan, who represented Everton in the mid-90s, believes the Blues are in safe hands.

“David Moyes is a manager. He’s not a PlayStation manager, he’s an actual manager,” Phelan told The Echo. “He goes out there and he knows what the club is about, what the fans are about and what the community is about. He understands the methodology and the terminology of the football club. From the tea lady to those who do the washing and the ironing – he understands everything about that club.”

Phelan revealed that Moyes once considered signing him during his early coaching days at Preston North End. “I remember having the chance to go play for Moyesy years and years ago when it was him and Jimmy Lumsden at Preston and they were looking at me. I was like: ‘Yeah, no problem.’ I thought I’d have loved to have played for David Moyes. I love that type of personality.”

Moyes, now 62, remains one of the Premier League’s most experienced figures, having managed more games in the division than anyone aside from Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger. After winning a European trophy with West Ham, Moyes returned to Merseyside with a mission: rebuild Everton and restore stability after years of managerial churn.

“You’ve had managers in there who have spent an awful lot of money, like Carlo Ancelotti – great – and Ronald Koeman,” Phelan said. “But this guy has come in and said: ‘We need to start afresh, we need to do it this way.’ He’s loved at Everton and I just hope he gets off to a good start to the new season.”

One of Moyes’ early success stories has been 6ft 6in full-back Jake O’Brien, signed from Lyon last year but overlooked by former boss Sean Dyche. Moyes saw potential in the Irishman and gave him a regular role in the second half of the season as Everton surged to a 13th-place finish, comfortably avoiding relegation.

“Managers look at players in different ways, don’t they? No disrespect to Dychey – I thought he did well under a lot of constraints – but David Moyes knows Everton and the Everton people,” Phelan added. “He’s seen a young lad who wasn’t getting a look in and has probably thought ‘he can do us.’ Moyesy is fantastic at nurturing and moulding those kinds of players.”

Calling Moyes “a proper, proper old-school manager,” Phelan concluded: “The modern-day player has got to get used to him, because he’s a winner. He wants to win.”

With the new Premier League season on the horizon and Everton settling into a new stadium, the veteran manager’s influence could prove pivotal in steering the Blues into a more stable future.