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 the shortest in 82 years despite calls from several respected ex-Manchester United players such as Denis Law and David Beckham calling for Moyes to be given more time at the club. At the time of his sacking, United were seventh in the Premier League table, 13 points behind fourth-placed Arsenal with four matches remaining, ensuring United would fail to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1995 and finish outside of the top three for the first time in Premier League history. Moyes had won five points from a possible 24 against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, and