Source: Eurosport
Black: The Moyes Done Good
David Moyes deserves to be on the shortlist for the Premier League's manager of the year according to Wigan assistant boss Eric Black.
The Latics visit Everton on Sunday for a crucial match which could have a huge bearing on the UEFA Cup ambitions of both sides.
Moyes' men are currently favourites to hold onto sixth spot, and the European chance that comes with it, as they are seven points ahead of Wigan with just eight matches remaining this term.
And although Black is looking to spoil Everton's recent good home form - they are unbeaten in their last seven at Goodison Park - he believes his fellow Scotsman deserves to be rewarded for the job he has done on Merseyside this season.
Moyes has been forced to deal with a truly horrendous injury crisis this term with strikers James Vaughan and Ayegbeni Yakubu out for the season, while his other recognised forwards Louis Saha and Victor Anichebe also missed huge amounts of playing time due to a variety of problems.
The Everton manager has employed midfielder Tim Cahill as a lone striker since before Christmas and has even used Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott as makeshift centre-forwards to try to find goals from somewhere.
Yet despite those problems, Moyes has guided Everton into the FA Cup semi-finals as well as a comfortable Barclays Premier League position and Black has nothing but praise for his counterpart.
Asked if Moyes should be nominated, Black said: "Without a doubt.
"I have known David since we were 15 or 16 so I have known him a long time.
"I know that he is extremely disciplined and very astute at what he does. His recruitment and the quality of the people he has around him is superb.
"He has had some difficult times at Everton but if you look at his period there you would have to say he has managed it exceptionally well and I would agree that he deserves it.
"He has had a lot of injury problems this year so he has to be up for the award. I think he probably has been in the past as well. He has been one of the country's top three or four managers for a while so it would not surprise me.
"Sir Alex Ferguson in my opinion is the greatest manager there has ever been, but David Moyes is starting to look pretty good himself."
If Everton avoid defeat against Wigan they will equal their best ever unbeaten run at Goodison Park under Moyes - they went eight Premier League home matches without defeat from December 2002 to April 2003 - and Black admits the Latics squad will be tested to their limits during the encounter.
He added: "It is going to be hard going there.
"Everton are an exceptionally well organised team and they get a lot of goals from set-pieces and they have great support and are very physical.
"They are a top five or six team and they are there on merit so it will be hard, but we will have to try to frustrate them and stay in the game for as long as possible."
