David Moyes confident of Everton board's backing

May 12 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

DELIGHTED David Moyes last night saluted Everton’s return to Europe – as he revealed talks will take place with chairman Bill Kenwright next week to plot his future plans.

The Goodison outfit secured fifth place and a second successive UEFA Cup qualification with a resounding 3-1 home win over Newcastle United yesterday.

Two goals from Yakubu and a Joleon Lescott effort rendered Michael Owen’s 47th-minute equaliser from the spot meaningless as Moyes’s side recorded a highest-ever Premier League points tally of 65.

Moyes was full of praise for his team’s efforts, and then said he is due to speak with Kenwright to discuss summer spending options.

“Most seasons, 65 points would have got a Champions League place,” said the Goodison manager. “Not only did we qualify for Europe, but supporters know that strides have been made to get us to that points total.

“It’s certainly one of the most pleasing seasons I’ve had, but I always think the most pleasing season is to come. I’ll be speaking to Bill at the end of next week. There’s been no date set, but we’re due maybe to meet Thursday or Friday next week.

“I’m totally relaxed about the meeting. The board have always supported me.

“Every manager wants to get as much as he can and I’m no different, but they have always been supportive.”

Yakubu’s 28th-minute opener made him the first Everton player since Peter Beardsley in 1992 to score 20 goals in a season while his second came from the team’s first penalty of the league season.

And Moyes added: “It was a good note to end the season on. It was a good performance, we played really well especially in the first half when our play was terrific. The only thing we were missing at that time was the finish to put us extra ahead. There was no sign of nerves, we had good movement and passed the ball well. In the last two or three games they’ve started to come back into form and showed confidence.

“We even got a penalty! I could almost not believe it. It’s perhaps right it should be the last game of the season.”

Everton had gone into the game needing a point to guarantee fifth, with Aston Villa three points behind with a superior goal difference.

At one stage nerves in the home crowd were frayed with Villa leading at West Ham United and Newcastle having equalised.

And although Villa’s 2-2 draw ultimately made the Goodison Park result academic, Moyes was delighted with the response of his players.

“I was confident that we could win the game today,” he said. “When it went to 1-1 you did start to think ‘oh boy, surely not’ especially after how well we’d played.

“But we showed character after Newcastle equalised and we knew Villa were winning. Even the players that weren’t here, like Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta and James Vaughan, I have said thank you to all the players as they have all played their part. I look forward to getting all of those players back.”

On finishing fifth, Moyes added: “I don’t look at it as though we have won a league within a league, I’d rather we had a cup to show for our efforts. But I have to be realistic to say we put on a good fight for fourth before falling away a bit and then fighting on for fifth.

“With the exception of the first month or two, we’ve probably been fourth and fifth all season. That’s great credit to the players, as you are under a bit of pressure when you are up there but they’ve hung on.”

Andrew Johnson missed yesterday’s game after being told to rest for three weeks in order to resolve a long-standing groin problem.