Everton could sneak fourth spot

Everton 3 Stoke City 1: "HOW MANY times have we been stood in the press room at half-time and asked ourselves if this is the worst team you have ever seen?"

The voice belonged to a member of the Merseyside press corps and the subject of his derision was Stoke, who, supposedly fighting for their lives, had wandered aimlessly around Goodison like sheep on a guided tour of an abattoir. They had yet to muster so much as a shot on goal and were already two down.

Seven or eight years ago you heard that phrase a lot at Goodison, and they would be talking about the team in blue. Everton in Walter Smith’s last days were a stale, desperate club staggering towards the Premier League’s exit. David Moyes is so habitually referred to as a “young manager” that it is hard to believe it is seven years since he drove down from Preston to take up what looked a thin inheritance.

He is now the longest-serving Everton manager since Harry Catterick, whose idea of taking training was to occasionally glance out of his office window at Bellefield. Moyes’ anniversary was greeted by questions as to what his next move might be, as if managing Everton were not an end in itself. As another young manager, Mark Hughes, has discovered, doing deals with billionaires entails surrendering control.

It is possible that Moyes may finish the campaign by taking Everton to the final Champions League place. They have lost only one of their last 13 league games.

For a club that has spent most of the season struggling to field two centre-forwards, Everton have progressed well. On Saturday it was Marouane Fellaini’s turn to be pushed up front. But since Moyes has not followed Alex Ferguson in learning French, the finer points had to be conveyed by Louis Saha and Joseph Yobo.

And those who came to Goodison with Fellaini wigs discovered their hero’s hairstyle had been smoothed down and braided. However, if his hair had changed, his football had not. “We told him to go forward and make an impact,” said Moyes. He did exactly that.

What stung Stoke was not that they lost – this campaign, like their previous one in the top flight, has yet to produce an away win – but that they should have waited so long before mounting a fight back.

Stoke, while slipping back into the relegation zone, have the most to be confident about of the three teams on 29 points. Their remaining visitors are Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Blackburn, West Ham and Wigan.

Those Crystal Palace fans who in 1998 saw their team record more away wins than Liverpool and still get relegated might disagree, but performances on the road are supposed to matter. Only one Premier League team has survived without an away victory – Howard Wilkinson’s Leeds, who began the 1992-93 season as champions. For Stoke to join them will be just as remarkable.

Guardian Service