NEVILLE SOUTHALL has warned Everton could pay the price for failing to strengthen in the January transfer window by watching David Moyes walk away this summer.
Moyes, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has delayed talks over a new deal until the conclusion of the campaign.
The Goodison manager was initially expected to begin negotiations this month but will now wait to gauge his team’s performance between now and May before making any decision.
Everton remain in the hunt for Champions League qualification and know home victories over Oldham Athletic and Wigan Athletic will put them in a second successive FA Cup semi-final.
And Southall, who enjoyed a 17-year Goodison career, believes the next three months will be pivotal in shaping the long-term future of the club.
“Moyes is being sensible by waiting to make a decision,” said the goalkeeper. “If Everton win the FA Cup and reach the Champions League, they will have matched Moyes’s ambitions.
“But if they finish sixth or seventh and don’t win the FA Cup, he is in a different position.
“Do Everton really want to be a top-four club? Moyes wants them to. But do the board? Can they match his ambition?
“I don’t know. I appreciate their honesty in coming out and saying they have no money, but they can’t keep on saying that forever.”
