Moyes hopes Toffees fans will remember progress

Departing Everton manager David Moyes hopes his 11-year reign at Goodison Park will be remembered for the progress made at the club.

Although the Toffees have not won a trophy since 1995, the Scot has had them consistently finishing in the top seven and even qualified for the Champions League for the first time.

He walks out in front of his home fans for the final time as Everton manager today before he takes over as Manchester United boss in the summer.

And while no one can argue with him taking the role at Old Trafford he hopes all his good work will be remembered when he leaves.

“Today sees me manage Everton at Goodison Park for the last time,” he wrote in his programme notes.

“It won’t be the last time I come to Goodison, and more than anything I want to sign off with three points.

“When you become a football manager you’re never sure if someday you’ll be sacked and criticised for the work you’ve done.

“I hope that most Evertonians would see we have moved the club into the higher reaches of the Premier League more often than they had previously.

“Over the years we’ve had brilliant players come through the door but more importantly I think I have had great men and I would never have been given any opportunity to succeed at Everton if it wasn’t for the help that I have received from all the players who have worked under me.

“I have brought nearly all the current players to Everton in my time and I do feel disappointed to be leaving them.

“They are all very much a part of what I have been trying to achieve at Everton and they have all bought into it.

“I have spoken to them and explained my situation, which they fully understand.

“It goes without saying my only interest is that we try to win the last two games of the season.”

As well as thanking the players, Moyes also paid tribute to the people behind the scenes – especially chairman Bill Kenwright with whom he is particularly close.

“It has been something which has made the job at Everton easier,” he said of their relationship.

“He has been incredibly supportive, desperate for his club to keep improving and I believe he should be congratulated for the way Everton as a football club has moved forward.”

In the same pages, Kenwright added his view on the departing manager.

“Not long after David joined us I said I believed that he could become one of Everton’s greatest managers, not long after that I said he could become one of football’s all-time great managers,” the chairman wrote.

“He has worked tirelessly throughout to achieve his goals and his 11 years at Everton has proved pivotal to both him and us in a mutual journey of respect.

“And now, as we begin the search for the next man with the right credentials to manage a club as special as this one I know we do so with Everton in great shape – a fact that is in no small part down to David Moyes.”