‘Elite players for an elite new stadium’ – Moyes sets out plan after returning to Everton as manager | OneFootball

David Moyes insists Everton are heading in the right direction as a club after returning to Goodison Park to take over as manager.

Moyes is back at Everton, where he spent 11-and-a-half years between 2002 and 2013 before leaving for Manchester United.

He takes over from Sean Dyche who was sacked this month by new owners of the club the Friedkin Group, with the Toffees sitting 16th in the Premier League table.

And the 61-year-old says he wants to be the man to lead Everton back to better times as they prepare to move into their new stadium next season.

Speaking at his first press conference since being named as the club’s new boss, he said: “Winning football matches is always the priority. Then there’s building a club back up if possible.

“The damage has not been done by any manager, it’s just through a period of time. I had a great time here and I would love to be part of making it better if possible.

“At the end, there’s a stadium. It looks the business, it looks elite so we need to get some elite players so we can give something for everybody to shout about when we move into it.”

Everton have battled relegation in recent years, finishing in the bottom half in each of the last three seasons but Moyes is confident of an improvement.

“There’s a lot of people in this room that have seen the last few years at Everton and it has been a difficult time,” he said. “I admire a lot of them for seeing it through a difficult period.

“A lot of Evertonians should be happy at the moment, it looks like they are going in the right direction. I was really privileged to work under some great people here who have really helped me and people whose intentions were to build a better Everton and I think they have done that.

“We did that at a period that was not easy and I think this period is not going to be easy but the new ownership has got big ideas, big hopes that they can make a big difference to the football club.”