David Moyes brings vast experience, a relentless work ethic and passionate leadership to the role of West Ham United manager.
The 56-year-old Scot has managed more Premier League matches than any other, bar Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Harry Redknapp, winning more than 200 top-flight matches during a career that has seen him lead Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland and, for a seven-month period in 2017/18, West Ham.
After a long playing career with the likes of Celtic and Preston North End, Moyes guided the latter to the Second Division title in 2000, Moyes has rightly established a reputation as one of the most respected and diligent managers of the 21st century.
David Moyes is a man who always had a burning wish to improve footballers
Football writer Simon Hart
In March 2002, he moved to Everton, where he oversaw an impressive transformation of the club’s fortunes followed.
The Blues finished seventh in Moyes’ first full season in charge, 2003/04, before achieving fourth position, their highest ever Premier League finish to date, and securing Champions League qualification the following year.
In eleven full seasons at Everton, he achieved five top-six finishes, guided the Toffees to the 2009 FA Cup final and won three LMA Manager of the Year and ten Premier League Manager of the Month awards.
“At Everton, he is remembered first and foremost as the man who lifted the clouds and set about restoring sagging expectations after the dismal Walter Smith years,” wrote respected football journalist and author Simon Hart, who has followed his managerial career closely.
“Moyes is a man who always had a burning wish to improve footballers. It is worth recalling too that his Everton team played some fine, fluid and incisive football.”
Those achievements saw him hand-picked by Sir Alex Ferguson to succeed his fellow Glaswegian as manager of Manchester United. There, he achieved a better win percentage than the likes of Matt Busby, Louis van Gaal and Ron Atkinson.
After spells with Sunderland and Spanish club Real Sociedad, who he led to an historic win over Barcelona, Moyes spent time further expanding his football knowledge while working as a technical advisor for UEFA.
He was initially appointed West Ham manager on a short-term contract in November 2017, with the Hammers then struggling in the Premier League relegation zone.
Using all of his experience, knowhow and man-management skills, the Scot guided the Irons to safety with two games to spare, having got the very best out of the likes of Marko Arnautovic, Manuel Lanzini and Arthur Masuaku.
Now, he returns to London Stadium on an initial 18-month contract with the remit of rebuilding confidence and helping an underperforming group of players climb the Premier League table.
Moyes’ career history suggests he is undoubtedly the right man to do just that.
