Whisper it quietly, but there’s an unlikely whiff of optimism at Everton right now.
Their side are yet to taste defeat this season and they have the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League.
It could get even better this weekend, should they win at plucky promoted side Hull City. Three points in East Yorkshire could propel David Moyes’ side into the top four and maybe even above their cross-city rivals Liverpool.
Their terrific start to the campaign – four wins, three draws and five clean sheets across league and Carabao Cup – is all the more remarkable given the widely-considered dreadful summer transfer window the club endured.
Everton finished up with a slim squad and just one recognised senior centre-forward after a series of sales and a number of deadline day blunders left them short up top. Add in the poorly-handled proposed sale of star asset Harrison Armstrong and the painful departure of star man Iliman Ndiaye and it had plenty of Evertonians up in arms.
Even Moyes couldn’t hide his disappointment over the episode. But to his and the players’ credit, they haven’t used it as an excuse. The first game after the window shut showed the spirit that exists within the tightly-knit group as they twice came from behind to earn a thrilling 2-2 draw at home to Manchester United.
Peter Reid – who represented the Toffees during the halcyon days of the 1980s – was one of the thousands in attendance at Hill Dickinson Stadium for that match last month.
“The noise when that equaliser went in against Manchester United – you think we’d have won a trophy!” Reid said, in conversation with the Gazette.
The Toffees are only in their second season at the brand spanking new stadium and so understandably there are many who are yet to properly bed in to their plush new surroundings – especially compared to the cosy and character-filled nature of Goodison Park.
Reid fully understands that.
“We’ve just got to embrace the new stadium because it’s great,” he says. “I think there’s a good couple of games that have taken place there, but it will take time. Goodison Park – the grand old lady – it was much-loved wasn’t it? It’ll always be there for us in our memory. But we have to move on.
“I was manager at Sunderland when we moved into the Stadium of Light and went out of Roker Park, which was great. You do get used to it.”
Reid is enjoying watching a younger, vibrant Everton this season and admits excitement at how the good start has snowballed.
“I think we’ve got some good young players. I think Hayden Hackney has been a good buy and I’m delighted that they kept Armstrong. Both of them are good, young players.
“I do think we’re short up front and in a couple of positions, but that’s just the way it is for us at the moment.
“But as long as the players give you their all… I don’t think the transfer window went that great. We lost more players than we got.
“But that’s David job at the moment – just to try and improve. Us Evertonians are long-suffering but we stick together and let’s see where it brings us. You’ve got to get behind the manager and get behind the players.”
Few in this part of the world are expecting or demanding that the days of Reid’s era return. During the 1980s Everton won two league titles and finished runners-up. Cup finals were a regular occurrence – five in total across FA and League Cup in that decade.
But you have to go back a long way for the club’s last piece of major silverware: 1995 to be precise, when Joe Royle’s lifted the FA Cup.
The fanbase haven’t had so much as a final of any kind to look forward to since 2009, when they lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup showpiece.
Reid hopes that can change this year, even if that is to be in the Carabao Cup. Moyes’ men host Newcastle in the last-16 later this month and Reid points to the Magpies as a possible side to emulate after they famously won the competition in 2025 to end a long trophy drought themselves.
“The biggest thing I think for the Evertonians is having that chance of winning a trophy,” Reid concludes.
“We’re not in Europe and I know we’re short in squad depth for cup competitions. But I think the confidence that you take if you win in cup competitions, you can take it into the Premier League.
“I think that’s what we’re waiting for. Can they go and do what Newcastle did the other year?”
