Reviving a sleeping giant

"He said to me: 'There's only one club for you, son, and that's Everton.' That stuck with me, and he proved to be right"

David Moyes was a young manager at Preston North End in 2002 when Everton, who were battling relegation from the Premier League at the time, sacked the experienced Walter Smith. They then took what was a relative gamble by recruiting a 38-year-old Moyes from Division One. The Scot succeeded in his first task – preserving Everton's Premier League status – and then led them to an impressive seventh-place finish the following season. Slowly but surely, Moyes transformed Everton into the closest challengers to the Premier League's top teams – then known as the 'big four'. Over a period of 11 years in charge, Moyes helped nurture Wayne Rooney into a world-class footballer, and even achieved a momentous and improbable fourth-place finish in 2004/05.

In this exclusive interview with The Coaches' Voice, Moyes revisits the work he did at Goodison Park that eventually convinced Sir Alex Ferguson to choose him as his successor at Manchester United.

Author: Ali Tweedale