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
2013–14 Everton F.C. season them to 65 points, the highest total Everton have ever amassed in a Premier League season. The club then handed the initiative back to Arsenal in the race for Champions League football as they lost 3–2 at home to Crystal Palace. Everton responded with a 2–0 victory over Manchester United and in doing so did the double over for the reigning champions for the first time since 1969. Everton's previous manager David Moyes was sacked by United a day later after just 10 months in charge. However, Everton then lost 2–0 against Southampton (with own goals from Antolín Alcaraz and