David Moyes’ spell at Everton was one largely blighted by financial troubles, but for most fans, it is remembered with fondness.
After all, his spell at the club was one of the longest-ever in recent memory, and has since typified the bare minimum that Evertonians expect when watching their team.
He forged a hard-working unit laden with quality at times, and over-delivered massively before joining Manchester United.
However, it is his words on a player who made that same move which has drawn particular interest now.
David Moyes on following Wayne Rooney
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, the Scottish manager combed over everything from his humble beginnings at Preston North End to his recent spell with West Ham United.
However, sandwiched in between that is arguably his most iconic spell in management, an 11-year stint at Goodison Park which saw him oversee some of the club’s best players in recent memory.
One such star was Wayne Rooney, arguably England’s greatest-ever player, and a product of the Everton academy.
But the Scotsman admitted that he was somewhat tough to manage, despite following his career with interest.
He claimed: ‘Wayne probably doesn’t know but I used to go everywhere Wayne was playing, nearly without him knowing. Made his debut for England, I was there. Without him knowing. When he broke his metatarsal I was over in Portugal for the games over there and people were saying Wayne is meeting on a yacht and I was raging, because I really wanted to keep him. I was a young manager at that point.
‘The only one [I knew] was Giggsy and Fergie and how Fergie controlled him. Alex did it with an iron rod, which I think the Scottish managers had in abundance at that time. I don’t think it suited Wayne that I was like that because I was saying make sure you’re not doing that.’
Wayne Rooney was another sign of a failed Everton ownership
Within that same podcast, Moyes regales the story of how he came to join Everton.
Speaking to Bill Kenwright, the then-owner admitted that the incoming manager would have just £5m to spend a year on players.
So, upon accepting, the 61-year-old requested that if that were to be the case, the ownership would take no players away from him, and he would be allowed to take his squad wherever on pre-season tours and such.
However, reneging on that deal just a couple of years later, Rooney was sold for £27m to supposedly keep the club afloat.
Decades on, it is a deal that still frustrates Evertonians, and yet modern-day Everton are still stuck in this cycle of being forced to offload their outstanding players just to comply with financial restrictions.
Hopefully, with Dan Friedkin closing in on an Everton takeover, this perpetual cycle of failed ownership can at last be broken.
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