Opinion - Moyes Not The Merrier

Another weekend, another defeat. David Moyes, usually not the most placid of characters at the best of times has just watched his side lose 2-0 to a rejuvenated Bolton side. There is no shame in losing to a side that Owen Coyle has moulded into a hard to beat side who also play attacking football. There is however, an underlying problem - the "M" word.

At the risk of regurgitating an often broached subject, it is worth looking at what is happening and what could happen if Moyes was given the funds that a top team deserves.

Everton are the side who in the last 10 years have brought through Jack Rodwell, Tony Hibbert, Leon Osman and a certain Wayne Rooney. Their academy system should be lauded, as all these players have come through the ranks to become established first-team players and in one case at least a world superstar, ranked amongst the likes of Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and co.

The transfer dealings also show what a good job Moyes has done whilst operating on a comparatively small budget. The combined cost of Jagielka, Howard and Arteta is around £10 million. Phil Neville, their current Captain, cost a paltry £3.5 million to prise from Manchester United. Furthermore, Moyes has signed players such as Joleon Lescott, brought from Wolves for £2.5 million but sold to Manchester City nearly 10 times that amount. This allowed Moyes to bring in Bilyaletdinov and Distin alongside Dutch World Cup finalist Johnny Heitinga.

Chairman Bill Kenwright, a lifelong Toffees fan has stated that he believes having a firm and sensible financial footing is the way to go. But with the new UEFA regulations on financial fair play due to come into force at the start of 2013, Everton could find themselves left behind big spending Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Manchester United as they vie to improve their squads before the regulations come into play.

It would be foolish for a club to rely on these regulations making the playing field level, but as Everton remain a selling club, see Steven Peinaar and his January move to Spurs, rival clubs are widening an already large gap. The only way Everton can hope to compete is to regularly qualify for the Champions League, or at the very least be reaching the final stages of the Europa League.

So what is needed? Everton are not a club who would want a foreign takeover. Their history is in the side streets next to Goodison Park, not an Emirates bank account. What they need is to have an owner willing to put the necessary money in to keep their best players (Baines is being linked to Bayern Munich and Manchester United) whilst investing in the future. If this is done and Moyes remains in the hotseat, we could once again see the resurrection of the great team of the mid 80's, denied their rightful place in history as one of the best teams in Europe due to the Heysel disaster.

What do you think? Is Kenwright correct to keep the pursestrings tight? Has Moyes taken Everton as far as they can go? Have the fans been spoilt with talents like Rooney and Rodwell coming through and expecting the rest of the team to be as good? Start the debate below.