Moyes refuses to back down

SOCCER:DAVID MOYES has refused to back down in the row over Cesc Fabregas's behaviour at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday and accused the Arsenal captain of questioning the integrity of Everton and the match officials involved.

The Everton manager, who also emphatically denied rumours he may quit Goodison Park, insisted it was never his intention to land Fabregas with a Football Association charge over claims that the midfielder asked Kevin Wright, the fourth official, “How much have you been paid?” during half-time. Arsenal were incensed after falling behind to a controversial Louis Saha goal.

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, claimed Moyes had broken an unwritten code by revealing details of an incident in the tunnel and had “pretended” to overhear Fabregas’s comment. But the Everton manager said yesterday: “I know what was said. I was there when it was said. Arsene said there was an unwritten rule that you don’t say anything that was said in the tunnel, but it was his player who broke the unwritten rule.

“He questioned Everton Football Club that we were paying the officials and, in doing this, he also questioned the officials that they maybe in turn were taking money. Anybody who works in this country will tell you that we are really strong on that. We support our referees and there are certain words you are not allowed to say. Cesc never swore once. He was very calm and very calculated. It was not a rant or a rave like I’ve heard some people say. It was straight to the point. I felt it was out of order and I felt he deserved to be sent off.”

The defeat on Tuesday left Everton three points above the relegation zone and, coming on the back of another transfer window with no money spent, fuelled more rumours that Moyes is considering his future at Goodison. “There is not a chance of it,” he said yesterday. “I am too big a football man (to walk away).

“Folk see me at games and I am at games because I am a football supporter as well. I like watching football, it is a hobby as well as a job. Maybe some day I will think about things but that day is not now and I really think with the squad we’ve got that I should be doing better.

“I am driven to succeed and from where I come from if you are put against the wall then you have to find a way of fighting back. In a way it pushes you a little bit, you try and fight back with what you have got and we will try and do that against Blackpool.”

Moyes also hinted at a breakthrough in the chairman Bill Kenwright’s search for new investment. “I would hope that a solution to what we need to do is not too far away. I can’t guarantee it, but I would hope that’s the case.