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 Weir (Scottish footballer) the day of his return. When manager David Moyes left the club to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in May 2013, Weir was interviewed by Bill Kenwright for the vacant role at Everton, but the job instead went to Roberto Martínez. In June 2013, Weir signed a three-year deal to manage League One side Sheffield United. Despite winning his first competitive game in charge, a 2–1 victory over Notts County, United struggled under his management and failed to win any of their following twelve matches, leading to growing pressure from the club's fans for Weir to be sacked.