Jelavic played a crucial role in that comeback, but so did the rest of the squad. Marouane Fellaini was impeccable in midfield, and Steven Pienaar was phenomenal in his creative midfield role. There's a never-say-die attitude embedded within the side that begins when a transfer first enters the Goodison gates. Sometimes it starts before that. Moyes often has a good idea of whether a player will fit in within his chosen dynamic. Take what Moyes said upon first bringing in Landon Donovan on a two-and-a-half month loan deal back in December, Moyes had followed Donovan for some time, and wasn't deterred by the American's previous failures to crack first-teams in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen.
Just as Arsene Wenger still brought Lukasz Podolski into Arsenal despite Podolski's own troubles at Bayern Munich, Moyes had seen Donovan come into his own as player since, and decided he was ready for another plunge into top-tiered football. Donovan has spoken about his troubles at Leverkusen since. But quit he did not. Humbled by his experiences in Germany, Donovan, who had once predicated his game upon a high-risk, high-reward style of play, started from scratch.
He began to realize the importance mentality played in forging and maintaining a productive career. He reinvented himself. Which, when you think about it, is quite true. Donovan achieved a level of consistency under Moyes he'd never thought possible. Kind of like what Jelavic has been able to recreate at the club after his prolific record with Rangers.
One look at the players who are currently in his first-choice XI is testament enough to that fact that Moyes is able to continually find Donovans and then unleash their potential. Former midfielder Lee Carsley, who was with Everton when Moyes first arrived, said of his former manager recently , "One of his greatest strengths is his man-management: his honesty and integrity. He had faith in me and he made me realise how good a player I could be.
Each player at Everton is seasoned, and each came into Goodison Park without breaking the bank. Wikipedia was used to gather transfer information. In truth I probably believed that I could be a better manager than I was player. The former Celtic, Cambridge and Shrewsbury centre-back would eventually lead Preston to promotion to the Championship, and to within 90 minutes of the Premier League - they were beaten by Bolton in the play-off final - before Everton came calling.
Moyes replaced Walter Smith at Goodison and led the Toffees to nine top-eight finishes - including fourth place in - in his 11 full seasons in charge.
The Scot was subsequently hand-picked by Sir Alex Ferguson to succeed him at Manchester United, but his dream job turned into a nightmare and 10 months later he was sacked. I got offered the job from Sir Alex," he said.
To get that opportunity, it was something I felt I had to take. Sometimes you have to have the bad times to get some good times and get the opportunities. Maybe Sir Alex, but even he had some bumpy times. An unremarkable year with Real Sociedad was followed by a disastrous spell at Sunderland, who were relegated in What I had to do was try and find a way back. It is not easy because you then have to find the right job. Where can I do something to show your worth?
That's the first thing to say. But when it didn't go well, I had to try and find a way of getting back. I didn't think that I'd necessarily become a bad manager. Maybe I had bad timing, maybe I didn't think deeply enough about the challenge I was taking on. But it didn't feel like that at the time. Now I'm a bit wiser and a bit older, looking back, I do think that I've still got something prove.
Purely by coincidence, Moyes sits down for this interview to mark winning Manager of the Year at this year's London Football Awards on the anniversary of his departure from United. He signed a six-year contract to succeed one of the all-time greats, Sir Alex Ferguson, but with United seventh in the Premier League table four games from the end of the season, he was dismissed before the end of his first campaign. The stunning dismissal catapulted one of the most promising managers of his generation, following his decade of over-achievement at Everton , into a scramble to rescue his reputation.
But before David Moyes could revive West Ham, he had to reimagine himself. Spells with Real Sociedad and Sunderland followed United, but it was in his first stint with the Hammers between November and May where he began turning the corner, steering the club away from relegation only to surprisingly see his six-month deal expire without renewal.
At the time, Manuel Pellegrini was favoured, but when the Chilean was sacked in December with the team just one point above the drop zone, Moyes returned with a clear message. After we've finished playing, there'll be nothing I'll enjoy better than coming for a beer with you, going for a meal with you, helping you in your careers as managers or coaches. But while we're here just now, my job is to get the best out of you.
Moyes re-established basic principles as he took charge. The club's internal data suggested players were not working hard enough in matches. He quickly identified those characters who "weren't with us" and moved them on, aligned with shrewd recruitment including Czech Republic duo Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek , both signed from Slavia Prague, before the January masterstroke of acquiring Jesse Lingard on loan from United.
Coufal and Soucek have come to embody this new incarnation of West Ham: talent mixed with diligence. Both Coufal and Soucek are regularly seen at the club's training ground working even on days off. In all, Moyes' message is getting through and he credits periods working in a different capacity, contributing to UEFA's technical reports and advising student coaches, with helping him to evolve.
I wanted to see what was happening, I wanted to make sure that I kept myself up to date with how teams were playing, what were the new trends, how goals were getting scored. I always wanted to make sure I was at the forefront of that.
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