Source: liverpool_echo
Barry Horne: Everton FC manager David Moyes’ honesty is an example to his rivals
David Moyes 300
I WAS at Goodison Park for the Wigan Athletic game on Boxing Day, and have to say that though it wasn’t a classic by any means, the right team won on the day.
I noted that afterwards there were one or two contentious refereeing decisions highlighted, but for me Lee Mason had a superb game. He refereed sensibly, took the difficult decisions into account, and gave the game every chance to flow – even if both sides struggled to find their best football.
Leon Osman, once again, was the standout performer, displaying his versatility and adaptability by playing well in two different positions, and he was involved in the game’s big talking point I suppose.
From my position in the Bullens Road, I had an identical view of his ‘challenge’ on Shaun Maloney as Lee Mason had. And, like the referee, my first instinct was that Osman had managed to avoid clipping Maloney as he went past him.
Replays showed that, in fact, Maloney had kicked out as he went past Osman, creating the contact that he had anticipated. That is not a penalty. There is a huge difference between a defender making contact with an attacker, and an attacker making contact with a defender.
Mason, however he arrived at his decision, got it spot on for me.
Still, how refreshing it was to hear David Moyes speaking afterwards about how his first instinct was that it was a penalty against his side. It is becoming a regular theme with David, honest, even-handed, considered comments, and his approach is one that a few current Premier League managers would do well to follow.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the senior statesman of English football, must count himself very fortunate to have avoided an FA charge this week after his “discussions” with referee Mike Dean at Old Trafford.
Ferguson actually had a point in this instance, but his behaviour set a bad example (again), and should have landed him in trouble.
No danger of that at Everton, though. The team deserves immense credit for the way it is conducting itself at present, and so does its manager.
