We've probably reached the end here ... not the end of the Moyes posts (that will come when we sell Baines and/or Fellaini and much of this attention gets redirected to the board thread and will then start again when we start slow and then stop again when we get better and so forth) but just the end of my personal willingness to repeat similar concepts over and over again. The only problem is that negativity/complaints by their very nature make people more likely to post. They say you get 10 happy customers for every one complaint. I'm not Moyes apologist enough to insist the ratio is the same here but I do think those in the anti-camp are more likely to post and post consistently. It has happened elsewhere to where those who felt differently gave up. Anyway ... one last post where I'm a cowardly Moyes apologist with no ambition before I take a break from defending our Moyesiah:
Hell I'll be honest, the truth when it comes to Cup competitions isn't *that* compelling a pro-Moyes argument (you have to switch to the league for that) but you do your side of the argument no favours by entirely ignoring the couple of decent runs we've had. *Never* threatening? The truth (when it comes to Cups) isn't that bad for your side mate ... no need to rewrite history entirely.
So when we finished 13th-17th every single year (aside from one) we had ambition? I really don't get this side of the argument at all -- I think you and a few others have backed yourself into a corner here and are refusing to budge out of principle. Anyone who remembers those years knows it was a mess -- to suggest an average league position of 14th (14th over ten years!), coming as close as you can possibly come to relegation (goal difference!), and Peter Johnson (Peter "FFS/RS" Johnson!!!!) was an era with more ambition than the Moyes years is just an argument for which I cannot even imagine the mindset. "I wish we'd won more" I get; "I wish we had as much ambition as we did in the 90's" I do not.
We beat a top six (at the time) Villa, the RS (we did once beat the RS in a Cup once -- when ITV didn't show the goal I didn't think it would mean people would never remember the game) and MU (they played reserves sure but I don't recall much complaining with the win at the time) in our Cup run a few years ago. Never? "Never" may not mean what you think it means.
"Absolving" is a telling choice of words. Moyes is apparently a criminal. Regardless, this is straw-man too -- there is a difference between thinking Moyes is the best manager for Everton and thinking the board is 100% responsible for every single thing which goes wrong with EFC. Nobody in their right mind would suggest that. 99.9%? Sure. Never 100%.
So you believe if we had finished 13th or worse every year with an average league position of 14th all of us "Moyes sycophants" would still be supporting him? If you believe that then we might as well not bother. I am basing my opinion on the facts of our results compared against the results (over the last 10 years ... not just Newcastle last year) of all clubs who don't have a billion pounds down the back of their sofa. You and others may disagree but it's not "no matter what" -- it's what has actually happened.
Well the reason you are addressing the issue is because I brought it up when speaking about when we won it. So I think I would say it because I did say it. "Fluked it" is extreme but there are obviously elements of luck: when Portsmouth won they beat Man U (fair play) and then got to play West Brom in the semis and then second division Cardiff in the final. Yes they still had to win and yes I doubt their fans celebrated any less but there was obviously a relatively kind draw at work. (And yes I know we lost to some lower league teams a few times which renders this argument completely moot in the mind of a person determined to argue about everything -- don't let me hear any of you ever say "it was bad luck to draw Chelsea in the third round of the Cup" then if luck doesn't play a factor.)
