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 against Liverpool and Manchester City, a flypast was staged by United fans with the banner displaying "Wrong One – Moyes Out" in seven-foot high lettering during a home match against Aston Villa in March. After the match, which United won 4–1, Moyes said the majority of fans had been "very supportive" of him. The club reached the quarter-final stage of the Champions League, after beating Olympiacos, but were defeated 4–2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich. On 24 January 2014, Chelsea had accepted a transfer offer from Manchester United for Juan Mata to travel to Manchester to undergo a medical, after