David Moyes rise to £6 million. All of this gave Everton and its fans cause for optimism as a string of strong performances broke the pattern inconsistency which saw league finishes of 15th, 7th, 17th, 4th and 11th under Moyes. His reputation as a disciplinarian could be seen to manifest in Everton's yellow card count. They received just 27 yellow cards all season – the lowest in the league and six fewer than their nearest rival Liverpool. Moyes recruited Steve Round as his assistant manager for the 2008–09 season to replace Alan Irvine, who had taken over as Preston North End manager
David Moyes Moyes signed Kevin Kilbane from Sunderland, James McFadden from Motherwell, Nigel Martyn from Leeds United and Francis Jeffers returned on loan from Arsenal. Poor results followed though and Everton did not win a game in 2004 until 28 February. A confrontation between Moyes and Duncan Ferguson at Everton's training ground was said to be symptomatic of the problems at the club. Everton finished 17th with 39 points, the lowest total in the club's history (although survival had been confirmed some time earlier), just avoiding relegation. During the summer of 2004, despite the turmoil surrounding the club's recent form, Moyes managed