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 previous winter. Everton's first new player of the season, Lars Jacobsen, was brought in two games into the season. This was shortly followed by the signings of Segundo Castillo and Louis Saha. On deadline day, Moyes secured the services of goalkeeper Carlo Nash on a free transfer, and Marouane Fellaini for a club record £15 million. On 14 September, Moyes was sent to the stands by referee Alan Wiley during a game against Stoke City. He was later fined £5,000 by The Football Association for improper conduct and warned about his future behaviour. At the end of the transfer