Former Everton FC boss David Moyes says he is ready to return to management
Former Everton boss David Moyes says he is ready to return to management – and believes he will be better equipped to do following his nightmare spell in charge of Manchester United.
The Scot has been out of work since his sacking at Old Trafford back in April, a move which came after less than 10 months in the hotseat.
Having spent 11 largely happy years at Goodison prior to that, the 51-year-old knows his reputation has taken a major blow.
But he says the time is right for him to return now, whether it is in England or abroad.
Moyes said: “I’m ready to go. I’ve no timescale. I’m enjoying the break but I’m a football man and I want to work. I feel my best years are ahead of me and I do feel I am still a young manager. I’ve lots to learn and lots I want to put into practice.
“I think I am better-equipped to take over a job like Manchester United now than when I did take over, because I’ve had a chance to see what happens, what goes on.
“I felt I was ready when I left Everton but obviously when you get in you see things and you realise that experience and knowledge you can only get from being in the job. But unfortunately I only got nine months.”
He added: “Picking my next job is vitally important, I’m well aware of that. I’ve an open mind as to what it will be and where it will be; if it’s in the Premier League or in the UK, that’s fine.
“But if it’s abroad then I’m okay with that. I have always been an advocate of players and coaches going abroad if that’s the right opportunity. It doesn’t happen, not enough anyway.
“You look at how well Terry Venables did in Spain and how well Bobby Robson did - they are up there with the great managers and both had periods working in Europe. One of the reasons why I wanted to be part of the League Managers Association was because I felt there were an awful lot of foreign coaches coming into these shores but we were not exporting enough British talent.
“It’s good that we have good managers like Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger in this country but I think we should be trying to send out some of our managers to other countries to help not just the development of themselves but the leagues over here. It can enhance their careers. So I’ve an open mind on where I go next.”
Moyes also lifted the lid on his time working with a teenage Wayne Rooney at Everton, and revealed the day he knew the Croxteth-born frontman would become a star.
He said: We were training at Everton’s old training ground, at Bellefield, and Wayne would train with us every day and he’d be kicking the balls everywhere. I’d be shouting at him: ‘Wayne!’ But he just wanted to kick them.
“Then we had a game one day and Wayne had the ball close to the byline and he chipped the goalie. All the staff were watching and you could see them all look up the line at each other.
“They all had the same look on their face: ‘Did you see that? Did that really happen?’ Everyone turned and looked. No-one shouted ‘What a goal!’ Maybe everyone was wondering whether he really mean it. But he did. From that moment we were all thinking: ‘Wow, what a player. What a player we have’.”
Rooney, under Moyes, went on to make 77 appearances for Everton, scoring 17 goals.
“He continually practised as a kid,” Moyes said. “He obviously has immense talent but he made sure he didn’t just rely on it. He worked very hard to improve it.”
Source: Echo
