After a managerial career that has spanned Preston North End, Everton, Manchester United, Real Sociedad, Sunderland and two spells at West Ham United, David Moyes’ return to Goodison Park will see him take charge of his 700th Premier League game this weekend as the Toffees travel to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
The Scotsman has certainly faced mixed fortunes and success in the dug out across the years, but he will now become only the third manager in Premier League history to reach the landmark 700 game figure, and we will have to see how close his return to management will take him to Arsene Wenger’s record 828 games at Arsenal, and Sir Alex Ferguson’s 810 matches at Manchester United.
The Brighton clash will also see another piece of small Premier League history made, as 61 year old Moyes as the oldest manager in the top flight will be taking on the division’s youngest in the shape of 31 year old Fabian Hurzeler. Quite the turn around for the former professional centre half during his playing days as when he first took charge of Everton way back in 2002, he was then the youngest gaffer in the English top flight with the late Sir Bobby Robson being the oldest at 30 years his senior.
Having returned to the game earlier this month, Moyes’ two games in charge so far have seen one victory and one defeat and the 3-2 win over Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur side lifted them four points clear of the drop zone and he will undoubtedly be looking to make it back to back victories to push them closer to the mid-table point and wipe away all concerns of relegation in the 2024/25 campaign.
It can certainly be expected that there will be a few changes in the first team camp ahead of deadline day and the closure of the January transfer window as he tweaks the squad to more suit his own preferred playing style, and then neutrals and fans in the wider world of football will simply see what he can achieve in the second half of the current campaign.
One thing is for sure though, having reached the 700 milestone aged only 61 years of age, should Moyes choose to go for the outright Premier League total and eclipse Wenger in top spot, you would imagine he will certainly have the opportunity to do just that given his standing as a manager.